It’s easy for the urgent to crowd out the important. While some White Houses have made that mistake on Supreme Court vacancies, George W. Bush and his senior advisers were very prepared from the outset of his presidency—and especially going into 2005. From my new Confirmation Tales post:
A recently released memo from George W. Bush’s presidential library reveals that as early as two weeks after Election Day senior White House officials were brainstorming over Rehnquist’s anticipated resignation. President Bush “should not be afraid to nominate strong conservative,” Karl Rove’s memo reads; “if don’t, move court in wrong direction”—something that would not be true if Bush were replacing Stevens or O’Connor. The memo likewise states that there was “no obvious candidate on court”—to become Chief Justice, it’s clear—and that a decision to “move up a conservative SCOTUS [justice]” would “buy two fights” (one over the associate justice to be elevated to chief, one over the nominee to fill the vacated associate-justice position).
In the spring of 2005, the working group of senior officials (with Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby acting for the veep, Gonzales in his new capacity as Attorney General, and Harriet Miers as White House counsel) conducted confidential interviews of a dozen or so candidates, including D.C. Circuit judge John Roberts, Third Circuit judge Samuel Alito, Fourth Circuit judges Michael Luttig and Harvie Wilkinson, and Fifth Circuit judge Edith Clement.
So the White House was very ready when the Supreme Court informed it on June 30 that the president would be receiving a letter the next day from one of the justices. But an unexpected twist occurred.
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