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 College of Law in 1931. He helped secure the Minnesota delegation's support for Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention. After Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election, he appointed Burger to the position of Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division. In 1956, Eisenhower appointed Burger to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Burger served on this court until 1969 and became known as a critic of the Warren Court.
This article is about the Supreme Court justice. For the journalist, see Warren Berger.
Warren Burger
Alvin Duke Chandler (1974)
June 25, 1995 (aged 87)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
2
In 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Burger to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice, and Burger won Senate confirmation with little opposition. He did not emerge as a strong intellectual force on the Court, but sought to improve the administration of the federal judiciary. He also helped establish the National Center for State Courts and the Supreme Court Historical Society. 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. He 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. The ruling played a major role in Nixon's resignation. Burger joined the majority in Roe v. Wade in holding that the right to privacy prohibited states from banning abortions. Later analyses have suggested that Burger joined the majority in Roe solely to prevent Justice William O. Douglas from controlling assignment of the opinion.[1] On the contrary, Burger would vote with the majority in Harris v. McRae in 1980, which formally launched the Hyde Amendment into effect. Although too late, he later abandoned Roe v. Wade in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. His majority opinion in INS v. Chadha struck down the one-house legislative veto.
Although Burger was nominated by a conservative president,[2] the Burger Court also delivered some of the most liberal decisions regarding abortion, capital punishment, religious establishment, sex discrimination, and school desegregation[3] during his tenure.[4]
Early life[edit]
Burger was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907, as one of seven children. His parents, Katharine (née Schnittger) and Charles Joseph Burger, a traveling salesman and railroad cargo inspector, were of Austrian German descent. He was raised Presbyterian.[5] His grandfather, Joseph Burger, was born in Bludenz, Vorarlberg, had emigrated from Tyrol, Austria and joined the Union Army when he was 13. Joseph 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 Burger became one of the youngest captains in the Union Army.
Burger grew up on the family farm near the edge of Saint Paul. At age 8, he stayed home from school for a year after contracting polio.[6] He attended John A. Johnson High School, where he was president of the student council.[6] He competed in hockey, football, track, and swimming.[6] While in high school, he wrote articles on high school sports for local newspapers.[6] He 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.[6]
That same year, Burger also worked with the crew building the Robert Street Bridge, a crossing of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul that still exists. Concerned about the number of deaths on the project, he asked that a net be installed to catch anyone who fell, but was rebuffed by managers. In later years, Burger made a point of visiting the bridge whenever he came back to town.
Education and early career[edit]
Burger enrolled in extension classes at the University of Minnesota for two years while selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance.[6] Afterward, he enrolled at St. Paul College of Law (which later became William Mitchell College of Law, now Mitchell Hamline School of Law), receiving his Bachelor of Laws, magna cum laude, in 1931.[6] He took a job at a St. Paul law firm.[6] In 1937, Burger served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees.[6] He also taught for twelve years at William Mitchell.[6] A spinal condition prevented Burger from serving in the military during World War II; instead he supported the war effort at home, including service on Minnesota's emergency war labor board from 1942 to 1947.[6] From 1948 to 1953, he served on the governor of Minnesota's interracial commission, which worked on issues related to racial desegregation.[6] He also 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.[6]
Burger's political career began uneventfully, but he soon rose to national prominence. He supported Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen's unsuccessful pursuit of the Republican nomination for president in 1948.[7] 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.
Assistant Attorney General[edit]
President Eisenhower appointed Burger as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the Justice Department.
In this role, he first argued in front of the Supreme Court. The case involved John P. Peters, a Yale University professor who worked as a consultant to the government. He had been discharged from his position on loyalty grounds. Supreme Court cases are usually argued by the Solicitor General, but he disagreed with the government's position and refused to argue the case. Burger lost the case. Shortly after, in Dalehite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15 (1953), 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.
Court of Appeals service[edit]
Burger was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 12, 1956, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge Harold M. Stephens. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 28, 1956, and received his commission on March 29, 1956. His service terminated on June 23, 1969, due to his elevation to the United States Supreme Court.
Legacy[edit]
As chief justice, Burger was instrumental in founding the Supreme Court Historical Society and was its first president. Burger is often cited as one of the foundational proponents of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), particularly in its ability to ameliorate an overloaded justice system. In a speech given in front of the American Bar Association, Chief Justice Burger lamented the state of the justice system in 1984, saying, "Our system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for a truly civilized people. To rely on the adversary process as the principal means of resolving conflicting claims is a mistake that must be corrected."[49] The Warren E. Burger Federal Courthouse[50] in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the Warren E. Burger Library[51] at his alma mater, the Mitchell Hamline School of Law (formerly the William Mitchell College of Law, and the St. Paul College of Law at the time of Burger's attendance) are named in his honor.