Word: washingtonization
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Quick off the blocks, Obama will still be hard-pressed to best the prolific appointers of ages past. The one to beat is George Washington - who, admittedly, had a bit of a leg up, starting the Supreme Court, as he did, from scratch. One of the first bills ever to be introduced in the Senate, the Judiciary Act, constituted a Supreme Court made up of a Chief Justice and five associates. Washington signed it on Sept. 24, 1789, and within hours he nominated six men to fill the posts. Congress responded with a haste that is unimaginable today: five nominees...
...Which is not to say his successors didn't try. Franklin D. Roosevelt came closest. The total number of Supreme Court Justices had changed six times since Washington's days in office, parking at nine in 1869. With his New Deal on the line, though, Roosevelt tried to make room on the bench for his supporters by claiming the right to appoint a new Justice - up to a max of 15 - whenever a sitting one turned 70 and refused to retire. His infamous "court packing" scheme never passed, but he did get all nine nominees he floated during his three...
...Hickory's most memorable appointment was Roger Taney, the Chief Justice who delivered the majority opinion in the infamous Dred Scott decision, which held that slaves could never be U.S. citizens. Taft has the distinction of cramming more appointments into four years in office than any other President since Washington in his first term. He got six out of six confirmed and (after losing re-election in 1912) was able to see the process from the other side: in 1921 he became the first person to serve as both President and a Supreme Court Justice. (John Quincy Adams turned down...
...Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln each had five wins; Benjamin Harrison, Warren G. Harding, Harry S. Truman and Nixon, four. All in all, U.S. Presidents have submitted 159 nominations to the court. One hundred twenty-three were confirmed, and seven declined the seat. All eyes in Washington are focused on who will be next...
...What gives Republicans hope that they can take back control of Congress and beat Obama in 2012 is the widespread perception that the President, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid are hell-bent on increasing Washington's reach. The victory of Scott Brown in January's Massachusetts Senate race has made it an article of faith that Republicans can gain back the majority on Capitol Hill primarily by emphasizing government expansion, deficit spending and the threat of higher taxes. Republicans now also believe a challenge to the Administration's foreign policy acumen can serve...