Willmott Examines Rehnquist Legacy

George Willmott ’26 didn’t originally plan to write a book about former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, he explained during a chapel talk about his biographical work The Intellectual Maturation and Ideological Legacy of William Rehnquist (Archway Publishing, May 2024).
“I was reading a lot about the Supreme Court after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, and I kept coming across Rehnquist’s name … and there just wasn’t a lot about Rehnquist himself. Eventually, I decided to try my hand at it, to see if I could write something that would reflect him better than a lot of the stuff that’s out there.”

Rehnquist served on the Supreme Court from 1972-2005, 19 of which were as chief justice. The conservative jurist presided over many high-profile cases throughout his time on the court, including those dealing with abortion, affirmative action, and the death penalty, and his opinions are still influencing modern judicial opinion.

Willmott described his writing and research process and offered advice for others who may be interested in writing a nonfiction book. Reading as much as possible and walking the fine line between editorializing and interpreting historical analysis became integral for the young author.

He encouraged his classmates to reach out to primary sources, “When I first set out to write the book, I just sent out a bunch of emails to Rehnquist’s law clerks, and I didn’t really expect any responses because they all seem to have very important jobs, but a lot of them did respond. That was very helpful and very encouraging early on because I actually got to speak with people who worked with Rehnquist and were close to the cases I was going to be writing about.”

Willmott thanked History Instructor Davis Smith for teaching him about writing footnotes and endnotes in AP European History. “If you have extraneous information that you think is super interesting, but it doesn’t fit in the flow of your book, that’s really good material for your endnotes.”

Willmott’s first book received high praise from Theodore W. Ruger, professor of law and former dean at University of Pennsylvania Law School.

“This fascinating book by a remarkably talented young scholar provides an illuminating and engaging history of Justice Rehnquist’s entire intellectual life. A scholarly work but also an entertaining read, the book is a unique biography of William Rehnquist as well as a concise history of the Supreme Court during his time.” 

Purchase Willmott’s book HERE.
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