Warren E. Burger

Details

Birth

September 17, 1907 · St. Paul, Minnesota

Death

June 25, 1995

Law school

st. paul

Prior experience

U.s. court of appeals judge

Biography

Warren Earl Burger (1907-1995) served as the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to a working-class family, Burger attended the University of Minnesota and St. Paul College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law) while working various jobs to support himself. After graduating magna cum laude in 1931, he practiced law in Minnesota for over two decades, specializing in corporate law and becoming active in Republican politics. Burger served as an assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1956, before being appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where he served until 1969. President Richard Nixon nominated Burger as Chief Justice in 1969, seeking a conservative jurist who would help reverse the liberal decisions of the Warren Court era. Despite expectations, Burger's tenure produced mixed results for conservative goals. He authored the unanimous decision in United States v. Nixon (1974), which compelled Nixon to release Watergate tapes and contributed to the president's resignation. Burger also wrote the majority opinion in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), which upheld court-ordered busing to achieve school desegregation. However, he joined conservative majorities in cases limiting criminal defendants' rights and opposed the broad interpretation of constitutional rights favored by his predecessor, Earl Warren. Burger's administrative reforms modernized the federal court system's operations. His legacy reflects a pragmatic conservative approach that prioritized judicial restraint and efficient court administration over ideological consistency.

Notable opinions

• United States v. Nixon
• Roe v. Wade