Bork, Robert H.
Identification Federal appellate judge and
unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of
China and the United States
Born March 1, 1927; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Robert Bork’s failed nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court
in 1987 resulted in increased awareness among the Ameri-
can people of the judicial selection and decision-making
processes. It also had lasting effects on the strategies em-
ployed by future presidents and nominees to increase the
likelihood that their nominations would succeed.
On July 1, 1987, following the retirement of Associ-
ate Justice Lewis F. Powell, President Ronald Reagan
nominated Robert H. Bork to be the next associate
justice of the United States. Bork’s confirmation
hearings proved unusually lengthy and contentious.
In evaluating his fitness for the position, the Ameri-
can Bar Association (ABA) split on his nomination
to the Supreme Court, with four members of the
fifteen-person committee declaring him “not quali-
fied” because of his “judicial temperament.” Addi-
tionally, 1,925 law professors signed letters opposing
the nomination, and numerous influential interest
groups—including the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU); the American Federation of Labor-
Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO);
the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; People
for the American Way; Planned Parenthood; the Na-
tional Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL);
and the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP)—mobilized grassroots
opposition.
In September, 1987, the Senate Committee on
the Judiciary rejected Bork’s nomination by a vote of
The Eighties in America Bork, Robert H. 129
Judge Robert H. Bork, center, listens as former president Gerald Ford, left, introduces him at his U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confir-
mation hearings on September 15, 1987.(AP/Wide World Photos)
