Warren Burger

Warren E. Burger
Born	Warren Earl Burger 17 9, 1907
Birthplace	Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	Template:Death date and age Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Jurist, lawyer
Known for	15th Chief Justice of the United States; the Lemon test; presiding over landmark cases including United States v. Nixon and Roe v. Wade
Education	St. Paul College of Law (LL.B., 1931)
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (1988)

Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American jurist who served as the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986, making him one of the longest-serving Chief Justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Nominated by President Richard Nixon on May 23, 1969, to succeed Earl Warren, Burger was confirmed by a near-unanimous Senate vote on June 9, 1969. Born into a working-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger rose from modest origins through a career in law and public service that took him from night law school to the highest judicial office in the nation. During his 17 years as Chief Justice, the Burger Court presided over some of the most consequential legal decisions of the twentieth century, shaping American constitutional law on matters ranging from executive privilege and abortion rights to the separation of church and state. After his retirement from the bench in 1986, Burger remained active in public life, chairing the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution and offering notable commentary on constitutional interpretation, including his characterization of certain expansive readings of the Second Amendment as a "fraud."

Early Life

Warren Earl Burger was born on September 17, 1907, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to a working-class family. The date of his birth—September 17—coincided with the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787, a coincidence that Burger himself would later note with appreciation given his lifelong engagement with constitutional law. He was the fourth of seven children born to Charles Joseph Burger and Katharine Schnittger Burger. His father worked as a railroad cargo inspector and traveling salesman, and the family's modest economic circumstances shaped Burger's early years and his approach to education and professional advancement.

Growing up in Saint Paul, Burger attended local public schools and demonstrated academic ability from an early age. He was active in extracurricular pursuits during his time at John A. Johnson High School, where he participated in student government, athletics, and the school newspaper. Despite his academic promise, the family's financial situation meant that attending a four-year university on a full-time basis was not a viable option for the young Burger. This constraint would lead him to pursue his higher education and legal training through an unconventional path that combined work and evening study.

Burger's Midwestern upbringing instilled in him values of self-reliance and industriousness that he carried throughout his career. His rise from these roots to the highest judicial office in the United States was a trajectory that he and others would later cite as emblematic of the opportunities available within the American legal and political system.

Education

Unable to afford full-time university education, Burger took extension courses from the University of Minnesota for two years while working during the day to support himself. He then enrolled at the St. Paul College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law), where he attended classes in the evening while selling life insurance during the day to finance his education.

Burger earned his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree magna cum laude from the St. Paul College of Law in 1931. His academic performance was notable, particularly given the demands of balancing full-time employment with his legal studies. The path Burger took—attending night law school rather than an elite institution—distinguished him from many of his eventual colleagues on the Supreme Court and contributed to his perspective on legal education and the legal profession. Mitchell Hamline School of Law has continued to honor Burger as one of its most distinguished alumni.

Career

Early Legal Career and Political Activity

After earning his law degree in 1931, Burger joined the St. Paul law firm of Boyesen, Otis & Faricy (later Faricy, Burger, Moore & Costello), where he practiced for more than two decades. He developed a broad civil practice and also taught contract law at his alma mater, the St. Paul College of Law, from 1931 to 1953.

Beyond his legal practice, Burger became active in Minnesota Republican politics. He played a significant role in the 1952 Republican National Convention, where he helped deliver the Minnesota delegation's support to Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential campaign. This political involvement brought Burger to the attention of national Republican leaders and set the stage for his transition from private practice to government service.

Assistant Attorney General

In 1953, President Eisenhower appointed Burger as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, heading the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. In this role, Burger was responsible for representing the federal government in civil litigation and oversaw a wide range of cases involving government interests. His tenure at the Justice Department further raised his profile in legal and political circles in Washington, D.C., and demonstrated his administrative capabilities and judicial temperament.

U.S. Court of Appeals

In 1956, President Eisenhower appointed Burger to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one of the most influential federal appellate courts in the country. Burger served on this court for thirteen years, from 1956 to 1969.

During his time on the D.C. Circuit, Burger developed a reputation as a judicial conservative, particularly in the area of criminal law, where he frequently dissented from what he viewed as overly expansive interpretations of defendants' rights by some of his colleagues. His opinions on the appellate bench attracted attention for their emphasis on law enforcement interests and their critique of what he considered procedural obstacles to effective criminal prosecution. These positions brought him to the attention of Richard Nixon, who was seeking a Chief Justice nominee who would take a more restrained approach to constitutional interpretation than the outgoing Earl Warren.

Nomination and Confirmation as Chief Justice

On May 23, 1969, President Richard Nixon nominated Warren Burger to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the United States. Nixon had campaigned in 1968 on a platform that included criticism of the Warren Court's rulings on criminal procedure, and he sought a Chief Justice who would move the Court in a more conservative direction. Burger's record on the D.C. Circuit, particularly his views on criminal law and his criticism of the exclusionary rule, aligned with Nixon's judicial philosophy.

The Senate confirmation process proceeded swiftly. On June 9, 1969, the Senate confirmed Burger by a near-unanimous vote, reflecting broad bipartisan support for his appointment. Burger was sworn in as the 15th Chief Justice of the United States on June 23, 1969, beginning a tenure that would last 17 years.

The Burger Court (1969–1986)

The Burger Court era, spanning from 1969 to 1986, encompassed some of the most significant and far-reaching decisions in the history of American constitutional law. Although Nixon had appointed Burger with the expectation that he would lead a conservative retrenchment from the liberalism of the Warren Court, the reality of the Burger Court's jurisprudence proved more complex and ideologically varied than many had anticipated.

Linda Greenhouse, a legal journalist and co-author of The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right, has noted that the Burger Court years represented a pivotal period in the development of modern conservative legal thought, even as the Court issued decisions that cut across simple ideological lines. The Court's composition changed significantly during Burger's tenure as Nixon and subsequent presidents appointed new justices, creating shifting coalitions on different legal questions.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

One of the most consequential decisions of the Burger Court was Roe v. Wade (1973), in which the Court held, in a 7–2 decision, that the Constitution protected a woman's right to have an abortion. The decision, authored by Justice Harry Blackmun (himself a Nixon appointee), established a trimester framework for analyzing state regulation of abortion. Burger joined the majority in this case, a position that surprised many observers given his conservative reputation. The ruling became one of the most debated and politically significant Supreme Court decisions of the twentieth century.

United States v. Nixon (1974)

In United States v. Nixon (1974), the Burger Court delivered a unanimous decision that President Nixon could not use executive privilege to withhold tape recordings and documents subpoenaed in connection with the Watergate scandal. Chief Justice Burger authored the opinion of the Court, which held that while the Constitution recognized a qualified executive privilege, this privilege did not extend to withholding evidence in a criminal prosecution. The decision effectively compelled Nixon to release the tapes, which revealed his involvement in the cover-up and led directly to his resignation from the presidency on August 9, 1974. The ruling stands as a landmark affirmation of the principle that no person, including the President of the United States, is above the law.

The Lemon Test and Establishment Clause Jurisprudence

Burger authored the Court's opinion in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), which established the three-part "Lemon test" for determining whether government actions violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Under the Lemon test, a government action must have (1) a secular legislative purpose, (2) a principal or primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and (3) must not result in excessive government entanglement with religion. If a government action failed any one of these three prongs, it was deemed unconstitutional.

The Lemon test became one of the most frequently cited and applied standards in Establishment Clause litigation for decades, influencing cases involving school prayer, public displays of religious symbols, government funding of religious institutions, and other church-state issues. While the test has been the subject of ongoing debate and criticism from both sides of the ideological spectrum—with some justices calling for its abandonment and others defending its utility—it remained a central framework in First Amendment jurisprudence for much of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Other Significant Decisions

Beyond these landmark rulings, the Burger Court addressed a wide range of constitutional and legal questions. The Court decided cases involving busing for school desegregation (Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 1971), the constitutionality of the death penalty (Gregg v. Georgia, 1976), affirmative action in higher education (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978), and the rights of the press. The Burger Court's body of work reflected the tensions and transitions of American law and society during the 1970s and 1980s.

Administrative Reforms

In addition to his work on the bench, Burger was active in promoting administrative and procedural reforms within the federal judiciary. He advocated for improvements to court management, the creation of the National Center for State Courts, and the modernization of judicial administration. Burger viewed the efficient administration of justice as essential to the legitimacy of the court system and devoted considerable attention to these issues throughout his tenure.

Retirement and Later Career

Burger retired as Chief Justice on September 26, 1986, and was succeeded by Justice William Rehnquist, who was elevated from Associate Justice to Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan. Burger's stated reason for stepping down was his desire to devote his full attention to chairing the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, which oversaw the national commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Constitution in 1987. In this capacity, Burger led a broad public education campaign about the history and meaning of the Constitution, organizing events, educational programs, and public ceremonies across the country.

In recognition of his public service, Burger was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988.

During his post-retirement years, Burger made notable public comments on constitutional interpretation that attracted significant attention. In a televised interview, he referred to the conservative push to reinterpret the Second Amendment as guaranteeing an individual right to bear arms unconnected to militia service as "one of the greatest pieces of fraud—I repeat the word 'fraud'—on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime." This statement has been frequently cited in debates over gun control and Second Amendment jurisprudence, particularly as the legal landscape around gun rights has continued to evolve.

Personal Life

Warren Burger married Elvera Stromberg in 1933, and the couple had two children: a son, Wade, and a daughter, Margaret. The Burgers maintained a relatively private family life throughout his years of public service.

Burger was known for his interest in the arts, particularly sculpture and painting, and he was an amateur woodworker and craftsman. He took pride in handcrafting items in his workshop, a hobby he maintained throughout his life. His appreciation for fine craftsmanship extended to his interest in the architecture and physical condition of the Supreme Court building itself, and he was instrumental in overseeing renovations and improvements to the Court's facilities during his tenure as Chief Justice.

Warren Burger died on June 25, 1995, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 87. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors, a distinction reflecting his service as Chief Justice and his broader contributions to American public life.

Recognition

Burger received numerous honors and accolades during and after his career on the Supreme Court. Among the most significant was the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he received in 1988 in recognition of his contributions to American jurisprudence and his leadership of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.

His alma mater, now known as Mitchell Hamline School of Law, has recognized Burger as one of its most distinguished graduates, and his career has been cited as an example of the school's tradition of producing leaders in the legal profession.

Burger's tenure as Chief Justice is commemorated at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which has examined his legacy in the context of the broader history of the Supreme Court and constitutional development. He is also memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery, where his grave is listed among the notable interments associated with the Supreme Court.

The Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University maintains a biographical profile of Burger, noting his contributions to First Amendment jurisprudence, particularly the development of the Lemon test.

Legacy

Warren Burger's 17-year tenure as Chief Justice left a complex and multifaceted legacy in American law. Appointed by a president who expected a sharp conservative turn away from the liberalism of the Warren Court, Burger led a Court whose jurisprudence defied easy categorization. While the Burger Court did move in a more conservative direction on some criminal law issues, it also produced landmark rulings that expanded or protected individual rights in areas such as reproductive freedom, executive accountability, and the separation of church and state.

The Lemon test, established in Burger's opinion in Lemon v. Kurtzman, became a defining standard in Establishment Clause litigation for decades and remains a significant point of reference in debates over the proper relationship between government and religion in the United States. The unanimous decision in United States v. Nixon, authored by Burger, established a precedent that continues to shape the law of executive privilege and the principle of accountability for the highest officeholders.

Linda Greenhouse and other legal scholars have noted that the Burger Court era was a period of transition in American law, during which the foundations of modern conservative legal thought were laid even as the Court continued to build on some of the Warren Court's legacy. The Court's decisions during this period influenced the trajectory of American constitutional law on issues that remain central to public debate.

Burger's post-retirement comments on the Second Amendment, particularly his characterization of expansive individual-rights interpretations as a "fraud," have continued to resonate in contemporary legal and political discourse. His willingness to speak frankly on constitutional issues after leaving the bench added a distinctive dimension to his public legacy.

Burger's career—from a working-class childhood in Saint Paul, through night law school, private practice, government service, and ultimately to the highest judicial office in the nation—has been cited as a notable example of upward mobility within the American legal system. His contributions to judicial administration, his leadership of the Bicentennial Commission, and his body of work on the Supreme Court ensure that he remains a significant figure in the history of American law and governance.