he was late for william rehnquist funeral because they couldn't leave a message and find out where he was. he doesn't like electric lights to read he moves his chair and not his office over the course of the day for the sunlight. but the great thing about justice souter is that he sort of got the joke about being a supreme court justice and he understood that he was important but it wasn't all about him and i will just give you one example of that. for reasons that remain obscure, david souter and stephen breyer are frequently mistaken for each other. if you know what they look like they really don't look anything like but, you know, people may have a vague sense of who they are and one time not long ago, justice souter as he did was driving from washington to his home in new hampshire and he stopped at a restaurant to get something to eat and a couple came up to him and said i know you come and you are on the supreme court to be he said your stephen breyer, right? he said yes, i am stephen breyer. laughter could and they chatted for a little while and he said so, justice, what is the

william rehnquist who ended up chief justice supreme court made his chops in the republican party by being a one of these poll challengers in arizona in hispanic and native american areas basically being very intimidating he was apparently a very tall guy and a white guy and you know in a minority area and he would just challenge people and they would freak out and leave or in some cases he could prevent them from voting. the republican party then was operating under some sort of a court order preventing them from doing agene didn't it extend to this kind of behavior as well it absolutely did this is this is something that's been borrowed from banana republics tom this is what you see in a country where it's nothing less than a banana republic where you have people who are in power who want to keep people from voting against them this is borrowed from places like south south america parts of africa parts of asia it's not unusual to see that in those kind of settings the republicans have this has been around for quite a while as you point out rehnquist was a master of it who later bec

john jenkins, legal journalists of see q press details the life of william rehnquist. the the partisan. professor of temporary islamic studies at oxford university provided detailed accounts of the rise of the arab swing, protests that f

and remember, william rehnquist did that in the bill clinton impeachment trial and when he was later asked what it had amounted to, he said i did nothing in particular and i did it very well. so the duties of the chief justice are undefined. and much about the supreme court initially with undefined. so it really had to create itself and it's done so not in a straight line progression, but it's done so true askew says some of the cases that in the early years had to decide because it had very little discretion over what to hear and the cases these days that he chooses to decide. and even not with this choice by the supreme court. you know, most appellate courts today in this country have to take what comes. and saturday at certifies chorus of review, courts of appeals, chorus of error correction. and that was the supreme court's initial state or so it seemed, but william howard taft, the capstone after his presidency would become the chief justice said the united states. and he says to the set and that the corporate greatly benefit from the ability to write some ticket can create its

he is a graduate of princeton university and harvard law previous work with chief justice william rehnquist, advised the bush-cheney campaign in 2000, work with the federal trade commission and the department of justice before serving as the nation's youngest solicitor general. but to have them both here today. [applause] the gentleman, thank you so much for being here. you both had quite a summer. mayor castor, let me ask you to reflect on this summer. -- mayor castro, let me ask you to reflect on this summer. >> first, a greenwich solutions for of and for a wonderful event. -- first, congratulation for evident for a wonderful event -- for evan for a wonderful event. it was like throwing a claustrophobic into a closet and then taking away the key. [laughter] i think what we have seen in historical cycle of some of what we saw in 2010 -- in this 2012 cycle is in some of what we saw in 2010. people are still committed to the fundamental ideals that make the nine states special, that make it a land of opportunity, that make it a believe the greatest country in the world. in the same time gun

bush appointed john roberts to the high court when chief justice william rehnquist died.s 78-22. justice john paul stevens administered the oath in the east room of the white house. tomorrow is the start of the new term of the supreme court and it's shaping up to be an important one for civil rights. toor more we turn to nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams. >> this supreme court term may be one of the most important in decades for civil rights. with the potential for blockbuster decisions on race and same-sex marriage. the court will examine the widespread practice of considering the race of students who apply for college. the case brought by a white high school senior, abigail fisher who said affirmative action kept her out of the university of texas. >> i always thought from the time i was a little girl that any kind of discrimination was wrong and for an institution of higher learning to act this way makes no sense to me. >> the university says it considers race as one factor in administrations to achieve a racially diverse campus. >> one of the greatest adva

he is a graduate of princeton university and harvard law previous work with chief justice william rehnquistadvised the bush-cheney campaign in 2000, work with the federal trade commission and the department of justice before serving as the nation's youngest solicitor general. but to have them both here today. [applause] the gentleman, thank you so much for being here. you both had quite a summer. mayor castor, let me ask you to reflect on this summer. -- mayor castro, let me ask you to reflect on this summer. >> first, a greenwich solutions for of and for a wonderful event. -- first, congratulation for evident for a wonderful event -- for evan for a wonderful event. it was like throwing a claustrophobic into a closet and then taking away the key. [laughter] i think what we have seen in historical cycle of some of what we saw in 2010 -- in this 2012 cycle is in some of what we saw in 2010. people are aspirational, hopeful, but also frustrated. people are still committed to the fundamental ideals that make the nine states special, that make it a land of opportunity, that make it a believe the

john jenkins details ally of supreme court justice william rehnquist in the book "the partisan." in "islam and the arab awakening," it provides the detailed account of the arabs spring and the protests that followed and what the future holds for the countries involved. you can watch a presentation from this offer on book-tv.org. watch for these titles and watch for the authors in the future. >> september 11, 2001 was a date that changed my life forever. it changed america's lead. i will go through a power point presentation that will outline the account of the historical account of the attack as things happened. it gets pretty intense. a lot of things happened very quickly. i will do my best not to ramble on or go too fast. i would ask you to sit back, clear your mind, put yourself in that room and get a real sense of what was like to be of the top of the food chain, the national -- the national command authority, as a nation of 300 million americans were attacked by al qaeda terrorists. >> more from retired lieutenant colonel robert darling this weekend on american history tv su

he is a graduate of princeton university and harvard law previous work with chief justice william rehnquist, advised the bush-cheney campaign in 2000, work with the federal trade commission and the department of justice before serving as the nation's youngest solicitor general. but to have them both here today. [applause] the gentleman, thank