The current U.S. Supreme Court Justices pose for a formal portrait in 2006.
Whenever a Supreme Court Justice leaves the bench--as Justice David Souter said on May 1 he would do--it causes tumult. As President Barack Obama prepares to name a replacement, his opponents gird for an attack. The Senate, which must confirm the nominee, leans heavily in Obama's favor. But between committee hearings, interest-group lobbying and the occasional scandal, any Supreme Court nomination can be an arduous process.
President John Tyler suffered the most rebuffs; in 1844-45, he presented the same five candidates for the court a total of nine times. (Only one was confirmed.) President Lyndon Johnson was snubbed in 1968 when...
