During his time in office,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Gerald Ford made one appointment to the
Supreme Court of the United States. Ford nominated
John Paul Stevens to replace
Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...
, whom Ford had unsuccessfully attempted to initiate
impeachment proceedings against as a
congressman.
In December 1974, the 76-year-old Douglas suffered a
stroke while vacationing in
Nassau, Bahamas that paralyzed his left arm and leg.
Douglas was discharged from
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, it se ...
in March 1975, and was in and out of the hospital for the remainder of the 1974-1975 term.
Although Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...
urged Douglas to retire, Douglas showed no intention of doing so. However, Douglas’ condition continued to deteriorate, and on October 28, 1975, his doctors told him his condition would never improve and that he would be paralyzed and in near-constant pain for the rest of his life.
On November 12, 1975, Douglas announced that he would immediately retire and assume
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
.
Douglas, William Orville
Federal Judicial Center website, accessed December 9, 2008 On November 28, 1975, Ford nominated John Paul Stevens to replace Douglas. Stevens was confirmed by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
on December 17, 1975.[Federal Judicial Center page on John Paul Stevens](_blank)
.[U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes - Nomination of John Paul Stevens]
''senate.gov''
Politics
Ford, who had been appointed to the Vice Presidency after Nixon’s second term began, and who assumed the Presidency without having sought the office, did not articulate a philosophy for the kind of justices he would like to appoint to the Supreme Court, the way subsequent presidents did. It is significant that Ford involved himself less in the earlier stages of the process of identifying candidates for the court than some later presidents did; when the Douglas vacancy arose, he essentially left the decision up to his attorney general, Edward H. Levi
Edward Hirsch Levi (June 26, 1911 – March 7, 2000) was an American law professor, academic leader, and government lawyer. He served as dean of the University of Chicago Law School from 1950 to 1962, president of the University of Chicago from ...
. At the same time, one of Ford’s reasons for attempting as a congressman to impeach Douglas in 1970 involved what Ford called Douglas’ “liberal opinions.”
John Paul Stevens nomination
After Douglas announced his retirement on November 12, 1975, Ford asked attorney general Edward Levi to draw up a list of potential candidates. Ford was under pressure from Democrats in Congress to replace Douglas with another liberal, but at the same time, he was under similar pressure from Republicans to name a conservative. Ford handed Levi the task of narrowing down the list of candidates to a manageable number, and Levi then gave Ford a list of eighteen candidates, grouped into four categories based on Levi’s impressions of them.[David Alistair Yalof, ''Pursuit of Justices: Presidential Politics and the Selection of Supreme Court Nominees'' (2001), p. 127.] Ford annotated the list and ranked the contenders, narrowing the list to “five or six names,” Ford later wrote. The list included United States Solicitor General
The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021.
The United States solicitor general represent ...
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...
, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:
* Central District of Illinois
* Northern District of ...
judge John Paul Stevens, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* Eastern District of Kentucky
* Western District of ...
judge Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furnitur ...
Carla Anderson Hills
Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and a public figure. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Gerald Ford from 197 ...
, and United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:
* District of Delaware
* District of New Jersey
* East ...
judge Arlin Adams.
Bork wound up being disqualified because of his close ties to Nixon, while Adams was considered to be a solid conservative without Bork’s associations, but flashy and overly self-confident. Levi pushed for Stevens, a fellow Chicago native. Ford debated between his final two contenders, Stevens and Adams. “Both had received excellent ratings from the American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
; both had had distinguished careers,” Ford later wrote. “I pored over their legal opinions myself. Stevens’ opinions were concise, persuasive and legally sound. It was a close call, but after talking to Levi and (White House Counsel Philip) Buchen, I selected Stevens in December.”
Despite Ford’s statement in his autobiography that he had selected Stevens in December, Ford actually formally nominated Stevens to the Supreme Court on November 28, 1975. The Senate confirmed Stevens in a 98–0 vote on December 17, 1975. Senators James Allen (D-AL) and Birch Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh Jr. (; January 22, 1928 – March 14, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981. He was first elected to office in 1954, when he won election to the India ...
(D-IN) did not vote.[
]
Names frequently mentioned
Following is a list of individuals who were mentioned in various news accounts and books as having been considered by Ford for a Supreme Court appointment:
United States Courts of Appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals f ...
* Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
** Arlin Adams (1921-2015)
* Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
** Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (1923-2014)
* Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
** John Paul Stevens (1920-2019) (Nominated and Confirmed)
* Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
** Alfred T. Goodwin (1923-2022)
Executive Branch officials
* Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...
(1927-2012) – United States Solicitor General
The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021.
The United States solicitor general represent ...
under Nixon and Ford (Nominated
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* ...
by Ronald Reagan in 1987, but rejected)
* Carla Anderson Hills
Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and a public figure. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Gerald Ford from 197 ...
(born 1934) – United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furnitur ...
under Ford, former United States Assistant Attorney General
Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general.
The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...
under Presidents Nixon and Ford
Other backgrounds
* Vincent L. McKusick
Vincent Lee McKusick (October 21, 1921 – December 3, 2014) was an American attorney and Chief Justice of Maine. At the time of his death McKusick worked at the firm Pierce Atwood in Portland, Maine, as of Counsel.
His most prominent rulings ...
(1921-2014), private attorney
* Dallin H. Oaks
Dallin Harris Oaks (born August 12, 1932) is an American religious leader and former jurist and academic who since 2018 has been the first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was ...
(born 1932), President of Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
See also
* United States federal judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
* Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts
The appointment of federal judges for United States federal courts is done via nomination by the President of the United States and confirmation by the United States Senate. The tables below provide the composition of all Article III courts which i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Gerald, Supreme Court candidates
United States Supreme Court candidates by president
Supreme Court candidates