Flashback October 21, 1987: Reagan Letter Before Bork Senate Vote

[new yorker 77]

Source: This letter is taken from Chapter 17, page 571 and 572, of the book Reagan – A Life in Letters which is Edited with an Introduction by Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson with a Foreword by George P. Shultz.

Editor’s Note: Robert Bork, a distinguished legal scholar and member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was nominated for the Supreme Court on July 1, 1987. The confirmation proceedings were protracted and contentious. The nomination was defeated in the Senate 58-42 on October 23, 1987. The Democratic majority in the Senate made it more difficult for Reagan to confirm appointments and sustain votes.

Text of the Letter:

Morton Blackwell
October 21, 1987

Dear Morton:

Thanks for your letter of September 30 and for your help on the Bork matter. As you must know by now we never had any intention of asking him to back away. In fact I personally let him know we’d be with him whatever his decision might be. When he decided to stay in I let him know we were happy with his decision.

Morton I think there was a distortion of our position as to his philosophy. We never portrayed him as an Earl Warren type nor did we ever use the word moderate. It’s possible some might have used that term in repudiating the charge that he was some kind of radical but not any of us here in the administration to my knowledge.

Maybe we were overconfident in view of the quality of our witnesses compared to those opposed; Chief Justice Burger, seven former attorneys general for both Democrat and Republican presidents, nine deans of prestigious law schools, the endorsement of the American Bar Association. By the way one of the four ABA board members who voted against him work for Senator Biden.

Well perhaps by the time you receive this it will be all over—I hope not—but if so, I assure you I’ll come back with a nominee as much like him as I can get.

Again thanks and best regards.

Ronald Reagan

[new yorker 77]

In this letter, Reagan shows support for Bork, disdain at the suggestion his administration used the word 'moderate', and references Senator Joe Biden.

[plain talk]

Note - dem controlled Senate and still there were 42 votes for Bork. Quite a contrast compared to current times.

[SittinYonder]

I’ll come back with a nominee as much like him as I can get.

And that was that pot-head Douglas Ginsburg. We'll never know if he was "as much like (Bork) as I can get)." We ended up with Anthony Kennedy and a new verb.

[TBP]

That the administration didn't fight harder for Bork is a shame.

[new yorker 77]

Agreed.

I enjoy this letter because Reagan rejects the notion that his administration pushed Robert Bork as a moderate.

I like the disdain he has for being falsely accused of using the word 'moderate'.

Someone call John McCain.

[new yorker 77]

The next letter in the book is regarding Ginsburg.

I simply wanted to add this historic document regarding Reagan and Bork to the mix.

Alito is our guy.

We need to remember the past in order to move forward against these libs.

[OldFriend]

One of the ugliest confirmation hearings I remember was John Tower's hearings.

Ugly personal attacks by the dems. Sickening.

There is no dignity or integrity on the left, NONE AT ALL.

[new yorker 77]

It has been almost 19 years since the Bork hearings.

The libs have fermented in their own stench since.