Feelings flow freely at viewing
WASHINGTON – The flag-draped wooden coffin of Chief Justice William Rehnquist was carried with slow, halting steps Tuesday, up the long marble sweep of the institution where he presided for nearly two decades, between two silent lines of colleagues, staff and former law clerks, into a columned corridor where the mighty and humble alike began paying respects.
It was a journey that lasted only minutes, yet few gathered in the morning crowd outside the Supreme Court missed the most telling moments: when John G. Roberts Jr., the man nominated to succeed Rehnquist, walked solemnly with the other pallbearers toward the hearse bearing his body, and when an emotional Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, on the eve of her own planned farewell, wiped away tears as the plain white pine coffin passed and entered the building’s Great Hall.
There, it was placed on the historic Lincoln Catafalque, which was covered in black velvet. Busts of Rehnquist’s 15 predecessors as chief justice line the room where O’Connor and five other justices joined with his children and grandchildren in a short prayer service.
“Rest here now, child of God, William Hubbs Rehnquist,” intoned the Rev. George W. Evans Jr., pastor of Lutheran Church of the Holy Redeemer in McLean, Va., which Rehnquist attended for many years. “Rest here in the halls you know so well.”
In those usually calm, reasoned halls – where Rehnquist had been known simply as “the Chief” since President Reagan elevated him to the post in 1986 – feelings flowed freely. Roberts, one of those former clerks, seemed to struggle to keep his composure. Justice Antonin Scalia brushed a tear from his eye.
And O’Connor, a tough westerner raised amid cattlemen and rattlesnakes, sobbed openly; her friendship with Rehnquist dated more than half a century to their law school days at Stanford University.
Outside, flags flew at half staff as a steady procession of visitors waited for admittance through the court’s massive bronze doors. President Bush and the first lady arrived just before 4 p.m. and were escorted in through another, secured entrance. They stood before the coffin briefly, then walked over to view the formal painting of Rehnquist in his black judicial robes, on display for the first time.
At midday, Bush formally sent Roberts’ name to the Senate to succeed Rehnquist and withdrew the earlier nomination of Roberts to fill the seat of O’Connor, who is retiring.
Senate leaders said Tuesday that the Judiciary Committee would begin hearings Monday on the nomination of Roberts to be chief justice. Bush said he would take his time selecting a candidate from a “wide open” field to fill the Supreme Court’s second vacancy.
“I want the Senate to focus not on who the next nominee is going to be, but the nominee I got up there now,” Bush said. “In the meantime, the country can be assured that I’ll take a good, long look at who should replace Justice O’Connor.”
Democrats urged the president to move quickly to fill the vacancy, saying it would be easier for them to support Roberts’ nomination if they knew the name of the second nominee.
Senators on Tuesday spent their first full day on the job after their summer recess adjusting to a new reality: two Supreme Court vacancies that will need to be addressed against the backdrop of the national emergency caused by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Even though the hearings on Roberts’ nomination will start six days later than first planned as a result of Rehnquist’s death, Senate leaders were optimistic that a vote on Roberts would take place before the Supreme Court term begins Oct. 3.
“Judge Roberts does have the skill, he does have the mind, he does have the intellect and the temperament to lead the Supreme Court for decades to come,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
The public viewing continues today from 10 a.m. to noon. The 80-year-old Rehnquist, who died Saturday at his home in Arlington after battling thyroid cancer, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery after a funeral service at 2 p.m. at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Northwest Washington.
Evans and two other ministers from Holy Redeemer will conduct the service. Bush and O’Connor are expected to offer eulogies, as are two of the chief justice’s children, James Rehnquist and Nancy Spears, and a granddaughter, Natalie Lynch. Court officials said all eight justices will attend