Nomination of a chief justice

[paineinthearse]

Is there percidence for a president to nomiate a "civilain" to be chief justice? My personal recollection is of sitting associate justices being elevated to fill the position.

[corkhead]

1. yes there is

I believe Earl Warren was nominated as chief justice by Roosevelt. I could be wrong, however.

[whistle]

2. Warren was appointed as CJ by Eisenhower, not Roosevelt...

<snip>
Warren attended the University of California at Berkeley and its law school. After serving a brief stint in the army during World War I, he worked for the Alameda County district attorney's office for eighteen years. During that time he proved to be a tough prosecutor, but he was also sensitive to the rights of the accused and personally fought to secure a public defender for people who could not afford one. A 1931 survey concluded that Earl Warren was the best district attorney in the United States.

From 1938 to 1942, Earl Warren was attorney general of California and was then elected governor. Warren is remembered mostly for his role in demanding the evacuation of Japanese from the West Coast. Though the action seemed inconsistent with his future decisions, Warren maintained during his lifetime that it seemed like the right action at the time. In his memoirs, however, he acknowledged error.


Warren served three terms as governor of California and played a key role in Dwight Eisenhower's nomination for the presidency in 1952. Eisenhower rewarded Warren with the Chief Justice position in 1953. Warren took over a court that was deeply divided between those justices who advocated a more active role for the court and those who supported judicial restraint. He proved skillful at "massing the court" and securing consensus as is evidenced by the unanimous decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case, one of the first cases that he had to deal with as Chief Justice.

<link> http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html

[corkhead]

3. thanks for the correction.

I was relying on my imperfect memory. I got the important part right.

:shrug:

[Wabbajack]

4. Actually only 3 or 4 were eleveated

most were not on the court before.