Warren Earl Burger

Warren Earl Burger was a federal appellate judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1956 to 1969. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1907, he rose from modest circumstances to become a prominent figure in the American legal system. Appointed to the D.C. Circuit by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, Burger served on that court for thirteen years before later ascending to become the fifteenth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, a position he held from 1969 to 1986. He passed away in 1995 at the age of 87.

Early life and legal career

Burger was born on September 17, 1907, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as one of seven children in a family of Austrian German descent. His parents were Katharine Schnittger and Charles Joseph Burger, who worked as both a traveling salesman and a railroad cargo inspector. The family was Presbyterian and lived on a farm near the edge of Saint Paul. Burger's grandfather, Joseph Burger, had emigrated from Bludenz, Vorarlberg, in the Tyrol region of Austria and had a distinguished military career, joining the Union Army at the age of thirteen during the Civil War. Despite losing his right arm in combat, Joseph Burger was awarded the Medal of Honor at fourteen and became one of the youngest captains in the Union Army at sixteen, later serving in the Minnesota state legislature.

During his childhood, Burger faced a significant health challenge when he contracted polio at age eight, which kept him home from school for a year. He attended the same grade school as Harry Blackmun, who would later become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. At John A. Johnson High School, Burger was an active student leader, serving as president of the student council and participating in multiple sports including hockey, football, track, and swimming. He also wrote articles covering high school sports for local newspapers. After graduating in 1925, he received a partial scholarship to attend Princeton University but was forced to decline it because his family lacked the financial resources to cover the remaining expenses. That same year, he worked with the construction crew building the Robert Street Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River in Saint Paul and remains in use today.

Unable to attend Princeton, Burger pursued his education through a different path. He enrolled in extension classes at the University of Minnesota for two years while supporting himself by selling insurance for Mutual Life Insurance. He subsequently enrolled at St. Paul College of Law, an institution that later became William Mitchell College of Law and is now known as Mitchell Hamline School of Law. In 1931, he earned his Bachelor of Laws degree, graduating magna cum laude. Following law school, he joined a law firm in St. Paul and began building his legal career.

Burger became actively involved in civic and professional organizations. In 1937, he served as the eighth president of the Saint Paul Jaycees. He also maintained a connection to legal education, teaching at William Mitchell for twenty-two years. When World War II began, a spinal condition prevented him from serving in the military. Instead, he contributed to the war effort on the home front, serving on Minnesota's emergency war labor board from 1942 to 1947. After the war, from 1948 to 1953, he served on the governor of Minnesota's interracial commission, which addressed issues related to racial desegregation. He also served as president of St. Paul's Council on Human Relations, an organization that worked to improve relations between the city's police department and minority residents.

Burger's entry into politics began with his support for Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen's unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1948. His political involvement proved consequential at the 1952 Republican National Convention, where he played a pivotal role in securing the nomination for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Burger led the Minnesota delegation in switching their votes from Stassen to Eisenhower after Stassen failed to obtain ten percent of the vote, which released the Minnesota delegation from their pledge to support him. This strategic move helped Eisenhower secure the nomination.

After Eisenhower won the 1952 presidential election, he appointed Burger to serve as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division of the Justice Department. In this role, Burger gained experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court, including matters involving government employment and loyalty issues that were prominent during that era.

Federal appellate service

On March 28, 1956, President Eisenhower appointed Burger to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Senate confirmed him on that same date. The D.C. Circuit is often considered the second most important federal court in the nation due to its jurisdiction over cases involving federal agencies and the federal government. Burger served on this court for thirteen years, from 1956 until 1969, occupying seat CADC0702.

During his tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Burger developed a judicial philosophy and reputation that would shape his later career. He became known as a critic of the Warren Court, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, which had issued numerous expansive decisions on criminal procedure, civil rights, and individual liberties. Burger's views on criminal justice and judicial administration attracted attention from those who believed the Warren Court had gone too far in protecting the rights of criminal defendants.

His service on the D.C. Circuit provided him with extensive experience in administrative law, constitutional questions, and the complex legal issues that arise in the nation's capital. The court's docket exposed him to a wide range of federal regulatory matters and questions of governmental power. This experience on one of the nation's most influential appellate courts prepared him for higher judicial responsibilities and brought him to the attention of national political leaders seeking judges with a more restrained approach to constitutional interpretation.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Burger's thirteen years of service on the D.C. Circuit established him as a significant figure in federal appellate jurisprudence. His work on the court demonstrated a judicial approach that emphasized judicial restraint and concern for the practical administration of justice. His criticism of what he viewed as excessive protections for criminal defendants in the Warren Court's decisions reflected a philosophy that would later influence his selection for higher office.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, nominated Burger to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States. The Senate confirmed him with little opposition, and he began a seventeen-year tenure as the nation's fifteenth Chief Justice, serving until his retirement in 1986. During his time as Chief Justice, Burger focused significantly on improving the administration of the federal judiciary. He helped establish the National Center for State Courts and the Supreme Court Historical Society, demonstrating his commitment to the institutional functioning of the American court system.

The Supreme Court under Burger's leadership issued decisions across a wide spectrum of legal and constitutional questions. Despite his appointment by a conservative president, the Burger Court delivered significant decisions on abortion rights, capital punishment, religious establishment, gender discrimination, and school desegregation. His tenure included authoring the unanimous decision in a major case involving executive privilege during the Watergate scandal, a ruling that played a significant role in President Nixon's resignation in 1974. He also wrote the majority opinion in a case that struck down the one-house legislative veto, an important separation-of-powers decision.

After retiring from the Supreme Court in 1986, Burger 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. Burger died on June 25, 1995, leaving behind a legacy shaped by both his years on the D.C. Circuit and his extended service as Chief Justice. His judicial career, spanning from his appointment to the federal appellate bench in 1956 through his retirement three decades later, reflected the evolution of American constitutional law during a transformative period in the nation's history.