Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination
On July 1, 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Judge Robert Bork for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to succeed Lewis F. Powell Jr., who had earlier announced his retirement. At the time of his nomination, Bork was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a position to which he had been appointed by President Reagan in 1982.
President Ronald Reagan announces from the White House Press Room Bork's nomination on July 1, 1987
Senator Bob Graham of Florida presiding over the Senate during the vote on Bork's nomination
Robert Heron Bork was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982 to 1988. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Senate rejected his nomination after a contentious and highly publicized confirmation hearing.
Bork in 2005
Bork greeting President Gerald Ford in 1975
Bork (right) with President Ronald Reagan, 1987
Bork (right) with Reagan, 1987