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William Hubbs Rehnquist (born October 1, 1924) is an American jurist. He is a former law clerk and Assistant Attorney General and has served as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States since he was elevated from associate justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Rehnquist was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After finishing high school, he attended Kenyon College and entered the U.S. Army Air Force. Rehnquist served in World War II from 1943 to 1946, working as a weather observer in North AfricaNorth Africa is the region of the continent of Africa north of the Sahara desert, comprising the Maghreb, including Libya and Egypt, and also by some definitions the Sudan. North Africa is vastly more uniform ethnically than anywhere in Africa south of th.
After the war ended, Rehnquist attended Stanford UniversityFor other meanings of Stanford see Stanford (disambiguation). Stanford University is a privately funded university in Stanford, California. It is located approximately 35 miles southeast of San Francisco, in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County ad with assistance under the provisons of the G.I. Bill. In 19481948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 1 Nationalisation of UK railways to form British Railways. Arab militants lay siege to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. First day of the Ital, Rehnquist received a bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course that generally lasts three or four years. Note that some postgraduate degrees are entitled Bachelor of. the University of Oxford Bachelor of Civil Law. Honours degrees In and a master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. In the UK it is sometimes awarded for an undergraduate course whose final year consists of higher-level courses and a major re in political sciencePolitical science is the study of politics. It involves the study of structure and process in government or any equivalent system that attempts to assure safety, fairness, and closure across a broad range of risks and access to a broad range of commons fo. In 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with, Rehnquist went to Harvard University, where he received a master's degree in government. He returned later to law school at Stanford University, where he graduated first in his class (ahead of Sandra Day O'Connor, who came in third).
Rehnquist went to Washington, DC to work as a clerk for Justice Robert H. Jackson during the Court's 1951– 1952 terms. There, he wrote a memorandum arguing against school desegregation while the court was considering the Brown v. Board of Education case. Rehnquist later claimed that the memo was meant to reflect Jackson's views and not his own.
Rehnquist later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he was in private practice from 1953 to 1969. During these years, he was also active in the Republican Party, and served as a legal advisor to Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign. During the 1986 Senate hearings on his nomination to serve as Chief Justice of the United States, several people came forward to complain about what they had perceived as Rehnquist's attempts to discourage minority voters in Arizona elections when Rehnquist served as a "poll watcher" in the early 1960s, though the allegations did not describe illegal behavior. Rehnquist denied the charges completely and was confirmed by a wide margin, although by less than Antonin Scalia, who was nominated to fill Rehnquist's seat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.