Warren Burger

Warren Burger (1907-1995), American jurist and the 15th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Warren Earl Burger was born on September 17, 1907, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and educated at the University of Minnesota and St. Paul College of Law (now William Mitchell College of Law). After graduating from law school in 1931, he began private practice in St. Paul, handling both criminal and civil cases. During the next 22 years, he practiced law, taught at his law school, and was active in Republican Party politics.

In 1953 Burger joined the U.S. Department of Justice, serving as assistant attorney general in charge of the civil division under Attorney General Herbert Brownell. In 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Burger to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He soon acquired a reputation as the most conservative judge in the appellate court. His conservative views brought him to the attention of President Richard M. Nixon, and in 1969 Nixon appointed Burger to succeed Earl Warren as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. On the Court, Burger did not hold the strong leadership position of his predecessor, partly because of the division between liberals and conservatives on the bench. Burger resigned in 1986 and was replaced by William H. Rehnquist.