Robert Bork

Robert Heron Bork (born March 1, 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a conservative American legal scholar and former judge who advocates the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork is a former Solicitor General. In 1987 he was nominated for the position of Associate Justice on the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, but his nomination was rejected by the Senate in a 58-42 vote.

Term as Solicitor General and The Saturday Night Massacre

Bork served as Solicitor General in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1972 to 1977, and as acting Attorney General of the United States from 1973 to 1974. As Solicitor General, Bork argued several high profile cases before the Supreme Court in the 1970s, including 1974's Milliken v. Bradley, where Bork's brief in support of the State of Michigan was influential among the justices. As acting Attorney General, he is known for carrying out U.S. President Richard Nixon's order to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox following Cox's request for tapes of Oval Office conversations. The firing incident is known as The "Saturday Night Massacre." Nixon's Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Richardson's Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than carry out that order. Bork, next in line after Richardson and Ruckelshaus, became acting head of the Justice Department, and Nixon ordered him, too, to fire Cox. Bork considered resigning as well, but was persuaded by Richardson that this would leave the Department in chaos. Bork then complied with Nixon's order and fired Cox. He subsequently resumed his duties as Solicitor General.

Related Topics:
Solicitor General - U.S. Department of Justice - 1972 - 1977 - Attorney General - 1973 - 1974 - Richard Nixon - Watergate - Archibald Cox - Saturday Night Massacre - Elliot Richardson - William Ruckelshaus - Justice Department

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As Solicitor General, Bork hired many young attorneys as Assistants who went on to have remarkable careers, including Judges Danny Boggs and Frank H. Easterbrook, and Clinton Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Related Topics:
Danny Boggs - Frank H. Easterbrook - Clinton - Secretary of Labor - Robert Reich

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