President Reagan's Remarks Regarding Retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger on June 17, 1986

um on may 27 1986 chief justice berger advised me that he wanted to devote his full energies in the coming year to the important work of the commission on the bicentennial of the constitution and for that reason would be retiring as chief justice of the supreme court as of the end of the court's current term today i received with regret chief justice berger's letter formally notifying me of his retirement immediately after my conversation with the chief justice i had directed my chief of staff together with the attorney general and the council of the president to develop recommendations for a successor and i'm pleased to announce my intention to nominate william h rehnquist currently an associate justice of the supreme court as the new chief justice of the united rehnquist st i intend to nominate antonin scalia currently a judge of the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit as justice rehnquist's successor in taking this action i am mindful of the importance of these nominations the supreme court of the united states is the final arbiter of our constitution of the meaning of our laws the chief justice and the eight associate justice of the court must not only be just jurists of the highest competence they must also be attentive to the rights specifically guaranteed in our constitution and the proper role of the courts in our democratic system in choosing justice rehnquist and judge scalia i have not only selected judges who are sensitive to these matters but through their distinguished backgrounds and achievements reflect my desire to appoint the most qualified individuals to serve in our courts justice rehnquist has been an associate justice of the supreme court since 1971 a role in which he has served with great distinction and skill he is noted for his intellectual power the lucidity of his opinions and the respect he enjoys among his colleagues judge scalia has been a judge of the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit since 1982. his great personal energy the force of his intellect and the depth of his understanding of our constitutional jurisprudence uniquely qualify him for elevation to our highest court i hope the senate will promptly consider and confirm these gifted interpreters of our laws and in closing i want to say a word about chief justice burger he has led the court the supreme court for 17 years a time of great change and yet a period also of consolidation and stability in the decisions of the court under chief justice burger's guidance the court has remained faithful to president while it sought out the principles that underlay the framers words he is retiring now in order to devote his full attentions to a momentous occasion in our country's history the observance in 1987 of the 200th anniversary of the constitution this is an endeavor for which all americans will be grateful and to which i and members of the administration will lend our total support i'm proud and honored to stand here today with chief justice berger with justice rehnquist and with judge scalia and to discharge my constitutional responsibilities as president of the united states thank you all god bless you know perhaps the most emotional issue facing this court it probably won't surprise you when i tell you that i'm not going to take any questions now chief justice berger here available for any questions you might have of him and i think the other is what was the process which led you to judge scalia did you know him before or did people come to you and recommend him what was the process i previously disappointed him between president surely you must think sir that he agrees with you on such issues as abortion affirmative action prayer in the schools that's a question and uh as you said why didn't you apply mr means i can't say no questions i can't say no answers could you tell us a little bit about the new justice do you want to take questions on another subject if you heard from gorbachev on the summit yet sir no i think the subject today is justice well did we ask justice berger chief justice sir did he recommend his successor no the justice said that he would not presume to do that with me well mr chief justice maybe it's appropriate now to ask you to give us your thoughts after uh what since 1969 seventeen years at this point i'm a junior josh sum up sum up your tenure what do you think he's done for this that's taking about 17 years and you don't want to spend that much time why are you leaving could you explain a little bit why you're leaving the court for one primary reason that the 200th anniversary of the constitution got a late start the celebration got a late start it is vastly under financed and we're going to have the devil's own time trying to do the kind of a job that ought to be done for this great event john warner the chairman of the 76 event you remember was drafted from his job as secretary of the navy which he did not want to leave and he told me being an old friend he told me when this subject came up last year

Channel: Reagan Library

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Length: 6min 14sec (374 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 15 2022