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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Warren Burger
WARREN E. BURGER
Awarded by
President Ronald Reagan
October 17, 1988
As teacher, lawyer, Assistant Attorney General of the United States, and judge, Warren Burger proved his abiding love of the law. For 17 years, he served in the highest post on the highest court in the land as the 15th Chief Justice of the United States. Chief Justice Burger stepped down from the Supreme Court to lead our country in a bicentennial celebration of the Constitution--one more act of devotion and distinction by Warren Earl Burger to the Republic he loves and serves so well.
United States Supreme Court, 1975
Retired Chief Justice Warren Burger Eulogized By Washington Dignitaries
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, who was also former Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents, was eulogized June 29 by a congregation of Washington dignitaries.
Burger, who died June 25, was the nation's 15th chief justice, serving for 17 years, the longest tenure this century.
"History will record that Warren Burger was one of the greatest chief justices," said federal appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, a longtime friend who once clerked for Burger.
More than 800 dignitaries, including President Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and 13 sitting and retired Supreme Court justices attended the funeral services at Washington's National Presbyterian Church.
Born in Saint Paul, Minn. Sept. 17, 1907, he worked his way through law school there and became active in Republican politics under Harold Stassen, serving as his floor manager at the 1948 and 1952 Republican conventions. In 1955, President Eisenhower appointed Burger to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. President. Nixon named him to succeed Earl Warren as chief justice in 1969.
Burger retired in 1986 to head a commission celebrating the Constitution's bicentennial.
"He left his mark on every facet of our judicial system," said Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who noted he was "kind and considerate" to her from her first day on the court, when he led her by the arm to face "the battery of press."
She noted that he wrote more than 250 opinions, including landmark decisions that enhanced women's rights and strengthened the constitutional separation of powers.
Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who succeeded Burger said, "I expected him to be stiff and formal, as I expected all chief justices were. I could not have been more wrong."
President Clinton, sat in the front pew, but did not speak at the services. The other members of the Supreme Court and members of Congress also filled the church.
He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
(top to bottom) - The United States Supreme Court Building. ==Smithsonian Photo by Jeff TInsley
- Former Chief Justice Warren Burger speaking at the celebration of the Constitution's bicentennial. ==Smithsonian Photo by Richard Strauss
- Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (standing at right) eulogizes former Chief Justice Warren Burger during funeral services at Washington's National Presbyterian Church. Seated behind her are Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and federal appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, a longtime friend who once clerked for Burger. ==Smithsonian Photo by Richard Strauss
- Chief Justice William Rehnquist, sitting and retired Supreme Court justices, President Clinton, and Attorney General Janet Reno precede the casket bearing former Chief Justice Warren Burger as it leaves the church following funeral services June 29. ==Smithsonian Photo by Richard Strauss
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Medal History
