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Burger was appointed by President [[Richard Nixon]] in 1969 to replace [[Earl Warren]] as Chief Justice of the [[United States]]. He was a strong advocate of "strict constructionism", a philosophy whereby one attempts to base one's decisions upon the literal text of the [[Constitution]]. Burger identified with the Court's [[conservative]] wing and frequently voted to limit the [[liberal]] decisions of the [[Warren Court]]. Burger was not one-dimensional, however. He authored the Court's opinion upholding the right of trial judges to order busing as a remedy for school [[segregation]] and he spoke for a unanimous Court upholding a [[subpoena]] for the [[Watergate]] tapes which resulted in President Nixon's resignation.

Burger was appointed by President [[Richard Nixon]] in 1969 to replace [[Earl Warren]] as Chief Justice of the [[United States]]. He was a strong advocate of "strict constructionism", a philosophy whereby one attempts to base one's decisions upon the literal text of the [[Constitution]]. Burger identified with the Court's [[conservative]] wing and frequently voted to limit the [[liberal]] decisions of the [[Warren Court]]. Burger was not one-dimensional, however. He authored the Court's opinion upholding the right of trial judges to order busing as a remedy for school [[segregation]] and he spoke for a unanimous Court upholding a [[subpoena]] for the [[Watergate]] tapes which resulted in President Nixon's resignation.

Chief Justice Burger was famously known and liked as someone who "looked the part." [[Conservative]] by nature, often his loosely reasoned opinions became fodder for the [[liberal]] wing of the Court, as in his ''[[Lemon v. Kurtzman]]'' opinion on the [[Establishment Clause]]. Chief Justice Burger was unable to hold for very long the support of Associate Justice [[Harry Blackmun]], who was appointed by President [[Richard Nixon]] on the hope that Justice Blackmun would follow the lead of his Minnesota colleague.

Chief Justice Burger was famously known as someone who "looked the part," dignified in appearance with silver hair and possessing social skills that worked well among top officials in [[Washington, D.C.]]. But his loosely reasoned opinions became fodder for use by the [[liberal]] wing of the Court, as his ''[[Lemon v. Kurtzman]]'' opinion on the [[Establishment Clause]] became a leading precedent for driving religion out of public life. Chief Justice Burger was unable to hold for very long the support of Associate Justice [[Harry Blackmun]], who was appointed by President [[Richard Nixon]] on the hope that Justice Blackmun would follow the lead of his Minnesota colleague.

In ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', Chief Justice Burger voted with the majority of the court in favor of [[abortion]] but supposedly only did so to enable him to assign the writing of the opinion to Justice Blackmun rather than to Justice [[William Brennan]], who was expected to write a more [[liberal]] decision.<ref>The Chief Justice has the power to assign who writes the opinion for the side that he is on; the writer of the opinion on the other side is determined by the most senior judge on that side.</ref>  As it turned out, Justice Brennan had tremendous influence over the writing of the decision anyway.

In ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', Chief Justice Burger voted with the majority of the court in favor of [[abortion]] but supposedly only did so to enable him to assign the writing of the opinion to Justice Blackmun rather than to Justice [[William Brennan]], who was expected to write a more [[liberal]] decision.<ref>The Chief Justice has the power to assign who writes the opinion for the side that he is on; the writer of the opinion on the other side is determined by the most senior judge on that side.</ref>  As it turned out, Justice Brennan had tremendous influence over the writing of the decision anyway.