50 Facts About Warren Burger

Warren Earl Burger was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986.

Warren Burger helped secure the Minnesota delegation's support for Dwight D Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Burger to succeed the Chief Justice, Earl Warren, and Burger won Senate confirmation with little opposition.

Warren Burger did not emerge as a strong intellectual force on the Court, but sought to improve the administration of the federal judiciary.

Warren Burger helped establish the National Center for State Courts and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

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Warren Burger remained on the Court until his retirement in 1986, when he became Chairman of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.

Warren Burger was succeeded as chief justice by William H Rehnquist, who had served as an associate justice since 1972.

In 1974, Burger wrote for a unanimous court in United States v Nixon, which rejected Nixon's invocation of executive privilege in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Later analyses have suggested that Warren Burger joined the majority in Roe solely to prevent Justice William O Douglas from controlling assignment of the opinion.

Warren Burger was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907, as one of seven children.

Joseph Warren Burger fought and was wounded in the Civil War, resulting in the loss of his right arm and was awarded the Medal of Honor at the age of 14.

At age 16, Joseph Warren Burger became one of the youngest captains in the Union Army.

Warren Burger grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul.

Warren Burger attended John A Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council.

Warren Burger graduated in 1925, and received a partial scholarship to attend Princeton University, which he declined because his family's finances were not sufficient to cover the remainder of his expenses.

In later years, Warren Burger made a point of visiting the bridge whenever he came back to town.

Warren Burger enrolled in extension classes at the University of Minnesota for two years while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance.

In 1937, Warren Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees.

Warren Burger served as president of St Paul's Council on Human Relations, which considered ways to improve the relationship between the city's police department and its minority residents.

Warren Burger supported Minnesota Governor Harold E Stassen's unsuccessful pursuit of the Republican nomination for president in 1948.

At the 1952 Republican National Convention, Burger played a key role in Dwight D Eisenhower's nomination by leading the Minnesota delegates to change their votes from Stassen to Eisenhower after Stassen failed to obtain 10 percent of the vote, which freed the Minnesota delegation from their pledge to support him.

Warren Burger had been discharged from his position on loyalty grounds.

Shortly after, in Dalehite v United States, 346 US 15, Burger defended the United States against claims from the Texas City ship explosion disaster, successfully arguing that the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1947 did not allow a suit for negligence in policy making.

Warren Burger was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28,1956, and received his commission on March 29,1956.

Warren Burger's service terminated on June 23,1969, due to his elevation to the United States Supreme Court.

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In June 1968, Chief Justice Earl Warren Burger announced his retirement, effective on the confirmation of his successor.

However, Burger wrote the majority opinion for Milliken v Bradley, which upheld de facto school segregation across school district lines if segregationist policy was not explicitly stated by all of the districts involved.

In United States v US District Court, the Burger Court issued another unanimous ruling against the Nixon administration's desire to invalidate the need for a search warrant and the requirements of the Fourth Amendment in cases of domestic surveillance.

However, Burger later abandoned Roe in Thornburgh v American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

On July 24,1974, Burger led the Court in a unanimous decision in United States v Nixon, arising from Nixon's attempt to keep several memos and tapes relating to the Watergate scandal private.

Warren Burger was originally to vote in favor of Nixon but tactically changed his vote to assign the opinion to himself and to restrain the opinion's rhetoric.

Warren Burger emphasized the maintenance of checks and balances among the branches of government.

Warren Burger dissented in Solem v Helm, which held that a life sentence for a phony check was unconstitutional.

Warren Burger once stated personal opposition to the death penalty in his Furman v Georgia dissent, but defended it as constitutional.

Rather than dominating the Court, Warren Burger sought to improve administration both within the Court and within the nation's legal system.

Warren Burger helped found the National Center for State Courts, which is in Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as the Institute for Court Management, and National Institute of Corrections to provide professional training for judges, clerks, and prison guards.

Warren Burger drew internal controversy within the Supreme Court throughout his tenure, as was revealed in Woodward and Armstrong's The Brethren.

Everett Dirksen noted Warren Burger "looked, sounded, and acted like a chief justice, " the reporters depicted Warren Burger as an ineffective chief justice who was not seriously respected by his colleagues for his alleged pomposity and lack of legal acumen.

Warren Burger was a constant irritant on the Court's group dynamic, according to The New York Times' Linda Greenhouse.

Jeffrey Toobin wrote in his book The Nine that by the time of his departure in 1986, Warren Burger had alienated all of his colleagues to one degree or another.

Warren Burger did not allow an opinion to be assigned, first by asking for a special conference on the case and then by delaying the case for reargument when that conference fell through even though he never held a formal vote on holding the case over for reargument.

Warren Burger was deeply prejudiced against gays to an extent which bordered on hysteria.

When Lewis Powell voted to strike down the anti-gay laws, Warren Burger aggressively lobbied him to change his mind, and sent him a letter so hostile towards homosexuals that Powell mockingly described it as "nonsense".

Warren Burger left office on September 26,1986, in part to lead the campaign to mark the bicentennial of the United States Constitution.

Warren Burger was succeeded as chief justice by William Rehnquist.

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Warren Burger served longer than any other chief justice appointed in the 20th century.

Warren Burger died on June 25,1995, from congestive heart failure at the age of 87, at Sibley Memorial hospital in Washington, DC All of his papers were donated to the College of William and Mary, where he had served as Chancellor; however, they will not be open to the public until ten years after the death of Sandra Day O'Connor, the last surviving member of the Warren Burger Court, per the donor agreement.

Warren Burger's casket lay in repose in the Great Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building.

Warren Burger is often cited as one of the foundational proponents of Alternative Dispute Resolution, particularly in its ability to ameliorate an overloaded justice system.

Elvera Warren Burger died at their home in Washington, DC, on May 30,1994, at the age of 86.