Presidents and the Judiciary
I. Selection Considerations
A. Professional Competence
B. Policy Preferences
C. Political and Personal Reward
D. Pursuit of Political Reward
II. Federal Appointments
A. Formal Requirements (Current Vacancies)
B. Appointments Requiring Senate Confirmation
1. Presidential Involvement
2. American Bar Association (Committee on the Federal Judiciary)
3. U.S. Senate (Senate Judiciary Committee)
4. Interest Groups
5. Media Focus
2. U.S. Senate Nominations (blue slips)
III. Impeachments (federal impeachments; Clinton's Impeachment)
IV. Presidential Influences on Federal Courts
A. Role of Solicitor General
B. Presidential Inspired Legislation
C. Enforcement of Court Decisions
D. Presidential Overreaching
1. Franklin Roosevelt's Court Packing Plan
2. Harry Truman's Seizure of the Steel Mills
V. Judicial Checks on Presidential Action
A. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
B. Ex parte Milligan (1866)
C. U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
Key Web Sites
Judicial Branch of the US: Resources
Courts of the Federal Judiciary
American Judicature Society: Fixing the Problem