Bush picks jurist for top court, calls for a 'dignified' process

(Clarification: A Page One story yesterday on the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court quoted a prediction in National Journal magazine that Roberts would win Senate confirmation by a comfortable margin. The prediction was made by columnist Stuart Taylor Jr. and does not reflect the magazine's views.)

WASHINGTON-- President Bush last night announced the nomination of John Glover Roberts Jr., an affable conservative who sits on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to the Supreme Court, saying he hoped for a ''dignified confirmation process."

Bush presented Roberts to the nation in a brief prime-time appearance last night, saying his choice was a man of ''extraordinary accomplishment and ability. He has a good heart. He has the qualities Americans expect in a justice: experience, wisdom, fairness, and civility. He has a profound respect for the rule of law and liberties guaranteed to every citizen."

Roberts -- who graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in and clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist -- said his nomination was ''both an honor and very humbling" and spoke of his ''profound appreciation for the role" of the court.

''I always got a lump in my throat when I walked up those steps to argue a case before the court," Roberts said.

He added, from a White House podium, ''I don't think it was just the nerves."

Bush's announcement, made on prime-time television at 9 p.m. and kept secret from the press until just an hour before, capped a day of intense speculation throughout the nation's capital.If confirmed by the US Senate in hearings this summer, Roberts will become Bush's first Supreme Court appointee, filling a crucial position left open by the announced retirement this month of Sandra Day O'Connor, 75, who was viewed as a swing vote on the court.

A native of Buffalo, Roberts, 50, would be the first new justice to take a seat on the nation's high court since 1994, when President Clinton appointed Stephen G. Breyer, and the sixth Harvard Law School alumnus sitting on the Supreme Court.

Roberts, who also received a bachelor's degree from Harvard, is a veteran lawyer and a widely respected legal thinker who has argued more than three dozen cases before the Supreme Court. But his selection defied speculation that Bush would pick a Latino or a woman as his candidate. And with less than two years on the bench, Roberts's portfolio lacks a string of high-profile rulings that would give critics a clear paper trail delineating his views on social issues such as abortion or affirmative action.

But Bush said Roberts is widely respected by both Republicans and Democrats. ''In my meetings with Judge Roberts I have been deeply impressed. He will strictly apply the constitution and laws and not legislate from the bench," Bush said.

After last night's announcement, some liberal leaders launched plans to vigorously oppose Roberts, but others were more muted in their reaction to his nomination.

The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, commended the president for choosing a judge ''with suitable legal credentials," but he promised an intense examination of the Roberts judicial philosophy. ''The Senate must review Judge Roberts's record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness," Reid said.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also called for scrutiny of Roberts's record.

The last time Roberts faced Senate confirmation, in 2003, he breezed through on a voice vote, receiving the approval of six Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

''As much as anything, the Senate needs to get a firmer grasp on Judge Roberts's judicial philosophy," said Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice and a central figure in contested nominations since the 1980s.

''His limited judicial experience, coupled with his work at the Justice Department in the Reagan and Bush I administrations, send some distressing signals."

Among the candidates on Bush's list, Roberts -- who served in the George H. W. Bush and Reagan administrations--was considered less troublesome to liberals than others under consideration. He also is more acceptable to the right, unlike like US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a Bush friend whom conservatives had attacked as too moderate on abortion and affirmative action.

In his announcement last night, Bush stressed that his candidate has had bipartisan support in the past, and he urged the Senate to confirm Roberts before the Supreme Court reconvenes in October.

Bush offered Roberts the job at 12:35 Monday afternoon, after lunching with the visiting Australian prime minister, John Howard, but the White House kept the choice under wraps until last night, fueling a churning -- and mostly misguided -- rumor mill inside the nation's capital.

Rumors began swirling late Monday when Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a Republican of Pennsylvania, visited the White House for a consultation with President Bush. By afternoon the rumor mill had focused on J. Michael Luttig, a federal appellate judge and a favorite of conservatives, when he was spotted leaving his Richmond courtroom dressed more formally than usual, with his family in tow.

After a day filled with rumors, the announcement of Roberts as the court nominee took much of Washington by surprise.

A senior White House official stressed yesterday that the choice reflected a personal connection that Bush made with Roberts during the vetting process.

''He really hit it off with Roberts," the official said. ''As you know, the president is a person of intuition and he saw in [Roberts] not only a brilliant legal mind but a terrific judicial temperament. This guy is a thinker. He's not a polarizer."

While Roberts's experience on the bench is limited, Bush said last night that Roberts has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court, and has ''earned the reputation as one of the great legal minds of his generation."

Roberts regularly argued gov ernment cases before the Supreme Court as deputy solicitor general for President George H.W. Bush -- including contributing to a 1991 brief that liberal activists see as evidence that he may vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationally. The brief read in part, ''We continue to believe that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled."

Asked about that phrase in his 2003 confirmation hearing for appellate court judge, Roberts said Roe v. Wade ''is the settled law of the land. . . . There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

Roberts served in private practice from 1986 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 2003, and was associate counsel to President Reagan; he also clerked for Justice William H. Rehnquist. In May, the nonpartisan National Journal described Roberts as ''one example of a solid conservative who would win Senate confirmation by a comfortable margin -- despite opposition from the many liberal groups that have called him ''extreme."

Bush's short list of potential nominees included 11 candidates, according to White House officials. The president took a notebook filled with biographical information during his trip to Europe this month; poring over the briefing books aboard Air Force One, Bush discussed the issue with aides and allies, swearing them to secrecy.

On Thursday, Bush began interviewing five candidates whom he did not know well, including Roberts. The two had met when Roberts came to the White House in May 2001 for a photo with other judges, but the first ''intimate" conversation between Bush and Roberts took place at the White House on Saturday.

Roberts, who had been teaching in London, canceled his Friday class and flew back to Washington to meet for an hour with Bush. He answered some questions about his legal views and his life, and Bush gave him a tour of the White House, including stops at the Lincoln Bedroom and the Truman Balcony.

As the two men took in the balcony view of the Washington Monument, Bush kept his counsel, not offering the position.

By Monday night, Bush had all but decided on Roberts, but he was concerned about a few issues that the White House declined to discuss.

By yesterday morning, with the concerns addressed, Bush was ready to place his call.

He stepped out of a meeting with the Australian prime minister, John Howard, and offered the nomination to Roberts, his first choice.

Roberts immediately accepted.

Bush returned to the meeting and said: ''I just offered the job to a great, smart 50-year-old lawyer who has agreed to serve on the bench." The president later dined with Roberts and his family.

Although Roberts's name regularly appeared on lists of prospective nominees, legal specialists had expected the president to use O'Connor's vacancy to seek continued diversity on the court, naming a woman or an African-American candidate -- or perhaps making history by naming a first Hispanic justice. And among white male candidates, Luttig's name is more prominent in conservative legal circles.

Some groups, such as the conservative Family Research Council, did not say how much money they would devote to the fight, saying it would depend on who the choice was and on what kind of support or opposition the nominee might face.

Others, though, have pledged vast sums already: Progress for America, a conservative group, has promised to spend $18 million to defend any Bush nominee, while a liberal counterpart, MoveOn, has said it would spend that amount in opposition.

Michael Kranish of the Globe staff and correspondent Kaitlin J. Bell contributed to this report.