When he was first named to the Supreme Court by President Nixon, William Rehnquist was seen by the liberals of the day as a grave threat to civil liberties. Then-Chief Justice Burger and Justice Blackmun, the "Minnesota Twins" whom Tricky Dick had previously appointed, were also scary to those who had revered the Warren Court. But Rehnquist was young, he was smart, and it looked as though he would take no prisoners advancing right-wing causes. Some predicted that he would eventually damage the Court itself.

As I recall, the suspicions about him were heightened when it was revealed in one of the Watergate tapes that Nixon had wished out loud to his aides that that nice fellow "Renchburg" down at the Justice Department might throw cold water on some aspect or other of the investigation that eventually led to Nixon's resignation. I'm sure "Renchburg" had known nothing about the President's desires for him at the time, but that sort of White House "recognition" did nothing to quell the fears.

The worriers may have been quite right about his political leanings, but they were wrong in their assessment of Rehnquist as an institutional threat. Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with his opinions -- Bush v. Gore was just one of many that were a little hard for some of us to swallow -- he did a good job as a justice, and a good job as the chief. There was a quiet dignity about him, even a playful side at times, and he seemed quite cognizant of the respect and dignity that everyone deserves. He was very human. He battled an addiction to painkillers at one point, and he held on to his position at the Court to the very end despite an awful terminal illness that would have pushed a less dedicated soul into a hasty retirement.

Now we face a future in which the new justices coming on board will likely make the late Chief look moderate. May God rest his soul, and help the rest of us.