John Roberts

John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005.

He has been described as having a moderate conservative judicial philosophy, though he is primarily an institutionalist.

He has shown a willingness to work with the Supreme Court's liberal bloc, and has been regarded as a swing vote on the Court.

Roberts grew up in Northwest Indiana and was educated in a series of Catholic schools.

He studied history at Harvard University, graduating in three years with highest distinction, before attending Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

He served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly and Justice William Rehnquist before taking a position in the attorney general's office during the Reagan administration.

He went on to serve the Reagan administration and the George H. W. Bush administration in the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel, during which he was nominated by George H. W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but no vote on his nomination was held.

Roberts then spent 14 years in private law practice.

During this time, he argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court.

Notably, he represented 19 states in United States v. Microsoft Corp.

Roberts was born on January 27, 1955, in Buffalo, New York, to Rosemary (née Podrasky; 1929–2019) and John Glover "Jack" Roberts Sr. (1928–2008).

His father had Irish and Welsh ancestry and his mother was a descendant of Slovak immigrants from Szepes, Hungary.

He has an elder sister, Kathy, and two younger sisters: Peggy and Barbara.

Roberts spent his early childhood years in Hamburg, New York, where his father worked as an electrical engineer for the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at its factory in Lackawanna.

In 1965, ten-year-old Roberts and his family moved to Long Beach, Indiana, where his father became manager of a new steel plant in nearby Burns Harbor.

Roberts attended the new La Lumiere School, an academically rigorous Catholic boarding school in La Porte, Indiana, where he captained the school's football team.

Roberts additionally participated in track and field and was a regional champion in wrestling.

He also participated in choir and drama, and was a co-editor of the school newspaper.

He graduated in 1973 as class valedictorian, becoming the first graduate of the La Lumiere School to enroll at Harvard University.

At Harvard College, Roberts dedicated himself to studying history, his academic major.

He had entered Harvard as a sophomore with second-year standing based on his academic achievements in high school.

Roberts first roomed in Straus Hall before moving to Leverett House.

Every summer, he returned home to earn money working at the steel plant his father managed.

Although he initially felt obscured among other students, Roberts distinguished himself with professors, meriting multiple distinctions for his scholarly writing.

He gained a reputation as a serious student who valued formalism.

Every Sunday, he attended Catholic mass at St. Paul Church.

Roberts focused on modern European history and maintained an interest in politics.

As an undergraduate, he excelled academically.

In his first year, he won the university's Edwards Whitaker Scholarship for outstanding scholastic achievement.

He intended to pursue a Ph.D. in history to be a professor but also contemplated a legal career.

One of Roberts' first papers, titled "Marxism and Bolshevism: Theory and Practice," attained Harvard's William Scott Ferguson Prize for the most outstanding essay by a sophomore history major.

An early interest in oral advocacy led him to later study statesman Daniel Webster, a prominent advocate before the Supreme Court.

His senior year paper, "The Utopian Conservative: A Study of Continuity and Change in the Thought of Daniel Webster," won a prestigious Bowdoin Prize.

In 1976, Roberts obtained his Bachelor of Arts in history, summa cum laude, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Roberts became a federal judge in 2003, when President George W. Bush appointed him to the District of Columbia Circuit.

During his two-year tenure on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts authored 49 opinions, eliciting two dissents from other judges, and authoring three dissents of his own.

In 2005, Bush nominated Roberts to the Supreme Court, initially to be an associate justice to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist died shortly afterward, however, before Roberts's Senate confirmation hearings had begun.

Bush then withdrew Roberts's nomination and instead nominated him to become Chief Justice, choosing Samuel Alito to replace O'Connor.

Roberts has authored majority opinions in many important cases, including decisions relating to elections, federal agencies, presidential power, the Affordable Care Act, and race-based college admissions.