Supreme Court retirements

[Brian Landsberg]

How does Earl Warren fit into this picture?  He tried to resign during the Johnson presidency.  He was a Republican, though he was also no friend of Richard Nixon.  I do not believe he was seriously debilitated in 1968.
>>> Mark Tushnet <TUSHNET at WPGATE.LAW3.GEORGETOWN.EDU> 09/05 6:10 AM >>>
In preparing for a presentation on the campaign and the Supreme Court, I started to wonder about the following question:  When was the last time a justice who was not seriously debilitated voluntarily retired during the term of a president from the party other than the one whose president nominated him?  Without consulting sources (I know there's a recent book on judicial retirements by Atkinson, I think), I came up with Stanley Reed.  (And that may be a special case because of his role in the Court-packing plan; the lore at least is that he retired when he hit the age Roosevelt proposed as the one justifying an additional appointment to the Court.)  To avoid confusion:  Charles Whittaker fits my criterion of "debilitated" because of his mental state.  Have I missed someone?

Mark Tushnet
Georgetown University Law Center
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