Standing in the White House Rose Garden the President of the United States called on all Americans to “join together in a bipartisan effort to fulfill our constitutional obligation of restoring the United States Supreme Court to full strength,” asking the Senate for “prompt hearings conducted in the spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship.”
These were not the words of President Barack Obama, a former constitutional law professor with a deep respect for the court. No, the speaker was Ronald Reagan, and the words were spoken in 1987 as Reagan put forward Anthony Kennedy, his nominee. Kennedy, following hearings conducted by then Senate Judiciary Chairman Joseph Biden, was confirmed by the Senate in February 1988, the last year of Reagan’s term in office.
