George H. W. Bush

==== Judicial appointments ====
{{Further|George H. W. Bush Supreme Court candidates|George H. W. Bush judicial appointments|George H. W. Bush judicial appointment controversies}}
[[File:Clarence Thomas official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.85|Bush appointed [[Clarence Thomas]] to the Supreme Court in 1991.]]

Bush appointed two justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. In 1990, Bush appointed a largely unknown state appellate judge, [[David Souter]], to replace liberal icon [[William J. Brennan Jr.]]<ref name="souter1"/> Souter was easily confirmed and served until 2009, but joined the liberal bloc of the court, disappointing Bush.<ref name="souter1">{{cite news|last1=Crawford Greenburg|first1=Jan|title=Supreme Court Justice Souter to Retire|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/SCOTUS/story?id=7477791&page=1|access-date=August 24, 2016|work=ABC News|date=May 1, 2009}}</ref> In 1991, Bush nominated conservative federal judge [[Clarence Thomas]] to succeed [[Thurgood Marshall]], a long-time liberal stalwart. Thomas, the former head of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] (EEOC), [[Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination|faced heavy opposition]] in the Senate, as well as from [[United States pro-choice movement|pro-choice groups]] and the [[NAACP]]. His nomination faced another difficulty when [[Anita Hill]] accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her during his time as the chair of EEOC. Thomas won confirmation in a narrow 52–48 vote; 43 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted to confirm Thomas's nomination, while 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted against confirmation.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=243–244}} Thomas became one of the most conservative justices of his era.<ref name="ntotenberg">{{cite news|last1=Totenberg|first1=Nina|title=Clarence Thomas' Influence On The Supreme Court|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/11/141246695/clarence-thomas-influence-on-the-court|access-date=August 24, 2016|publisher=NPR|date=October 11, 2011}}</ref>