Touro Law Review Volume 37 Number 2 Article 5 2021 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Wise Legal Giant Thomas A. Schweitzer Touro Law Center Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/lawreview Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Judges Commons, Law and Gender Commons, and the Supreme Court of the United States Commons Recommended Citation Schweitzer, Thomas A. (2021) "Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Wise Legal Giant," Touro Law Review: Vol. 37 : No. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/lawreview/vol37/iss2/5 This Symposium: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Touro Law Center. It has been accepted for inclusion in Touro Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Touro Law Center. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Schweitzer: Wise Legal Giant RUTH BADER GINSBURG, WISE LEGAL GIANT Thomas A. Schweitzer* APPOINTMENT TO THE SUPREME COURT On July 20, 1993, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and its chairman, Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, for hearings on her nomination by President William J. Clinton to the Supreme Court of the United States.1 This was the first Supreme Court nomination by a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall in 1967. It was to replace retiring Justice Byron White, and Clinton told aides he wanted to hit a “home run.”2 Ginsburg’s nomination came at an awkward moment for President Clinton, who had made three unsuccessful nominations of women to Justice Department posts during his first year in office.3 * Professor Emeritus, Touro Law School, 1984-2020; A.B.