"I think you did a great thing for the Court," John Mitchell replied.

"I really built them up," Nixon went on. "You know, and I talked about respect [for] the law, whether you agree and obey the law, and all that. And they oughta appreciate it, the bastards! . . . Be sure to emphasize to all the southerners that Rehnquist is a reactionary bastard, which I hope to Christ he is."

Even as a young man in the 1950s, Rehnquist boldly preached an uncompromising brand of conservatism, and he espoused views—and acted on them—that were racist even by the standards of that era. Confronted later in the Senate, he took a disingenuous approach with his critics, lying his way out of trouble. Having taken his knocks in two brutal confirmation hearings, he deeply mistrusted the press, and he did his best to frustrate coverage or, failing that, to keep the stories about him one dimensional.