1924-
Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

Background.

William Hubbs Rehnquist was born on 1 October 1924 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After leaving the military he attended Stanford University where he received a B.A. in political science, and earned master's degrees in political science from both Stanford (1948) and Harvard (1950), before attending Stanford Law School. He graduated first in his class in 1952 with an LL.B. and was awarded the Order of the Coif. Rehnquist then served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. During his tenure as a clerk, he drafted a memo for Justice Jackson that stated racial segregation in education was"right and should be affirmed." Following the clerkship, Rehnquist practiced law in Phoenix, Arizona. He then served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Affairs in the Department of...