Introductory reflections. Of criteria, evaluations, and judgments -- Nixon era. A turbulent case study -- How they get there. Appointing Supreme Court justices -- Why they get there. Qualifications and rationalizations -- First forty years. From George Washington to John Quincy Adams, 1789-1829 -- Next forty years. From Andrew Jackson to Andrew Johnson, 1829-1869 -- Balance of the nineteenth century. From Ulysses S. Grant to William McKinley, 1869-1901 -- Into the twentieth century. From Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Hoover, 1901-1933 -- Court alters course. FDR and Truman, 1933-1953 -- Warren Court. From Ike to LBJ, 1953-1969 -- Burger Court. From Nixon to Reagan, 1969-1986 -- Rehnquist Court. Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II, 1986-2005 -- Roberts Court, Bush II (in part) -- Appendix A: Rating Supreme Court justices -- Appendix B: Rating presidents -- Appendix C: Statistical data on Supreme Court justices -- Bibliography. General works -- Works about or by individual justices -- Photo acknowledgments -- Index of cases -- Index of names.