A man for all seasons.

• Author: Ayer, Donald
• Position: Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist - Testimonial

William H. Rehnquist will be remembered as the principal intellect behind the Supreme Court's conservative retrenchment from the Warren era. From the time he arrived at the Court in 1972, he began advocating, at times quite fiercely, a different approach on a broad range of issues, which for years led him to frequent dissents. The guiding thrust of that approach was to challenge on a number of fronts the near-total federal legislative and judicial superiority over the activities of states, which was the principal legacy of the New Deal to late-twentieth-century America.

He was ultimately quite successful in this thirty-three year endeavor. By the end of his tenure on the Court, the constitutional and legal landscape had been critically transformed in the areas of criminal procedure, habeas corpus, the relationship between church and state, and the power of Congress to impose burdens on the states, to name a few.

But that is surely not the only way he will be remembered. And for those who knew him well, including those of us so lucky to be among his 105 law clerks, it is not the first thing that comes to mind. Far more striking and memorable are a number of personal qualities that have rarely if ever coexisted in a single human being tapped by history to play such a pivotal role in the affairs of his nation.

On the one hand, he obviously had the mental horsepower, force of will, and intensity without which there would be no chance at all of impacting the law as he did during his three-plus decades on the Court. True stories are legion of his extraordinary intellect, photographic memory of the Supreme Court's decisions, strong beliefs and confidence in his own judgments, and razor-like writing style that went directly to the heart of the matter. (1)

He had strong and clear convictions--based most centrally on the facts surrounding the creation of the federal union as a "Government of enumerated powers," which was intended to leave appreciable powers and sovereignty to the states. (2) He was no handwringer, and believed in getting to the point. And as Chief, he admonished his colleagues to get to the point and stay on schedule. (3)

But the Chief's remarkable intellect, self-confidence, intensity, and insistence that the trains run on time were matched by a sense of balance and perspective about the choices one makes in life. As important as it was, the Court's work was only one aspect of his life. For him, family came first--before work. (4)...