Rehnquist recalled as legal light with humor

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and family members remembered Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist yesterday as a giant in American law during his 33 years on the bench, but also as a gentle man who lived without pretense and who balanced his work life with an insatiable love of jokes, history, travel, cards, and music.

At a memorial service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, attended by dozens of high-ranking officials from the White House and Congress, the nation's 16th chief justice, who died Saturday, was eulogized as a man who staunchly defended his conservative principles in public life while privately maintaining a zestful sense of humor.

Rehnquist's son, James, for example, disclosed that the chief justice had enjoyed the lowbrow 2003 comedy ''Old School," though ''my father did acknowledge that it was a bit raunchy." And, according to O'Connor, when emergency room physicians asked Rehnquist the name of his primary doctor as he lay dying last week, Rehnquist managed to quip: ''My dentist."

Offering a rare glimpse into the court's deliberative conferences, O'Connor also said Rehnquist discouraged ''long-winded speeches," yet allowed time for all the justices to fully express themselves. When the atmosphere grew tense, she said, he would defuse things with humor.

''Thanks to him, relations among the court have been remarkably harmonious despite our different viewpoints," she said.

Bush recalled the sight of Rehnquist, who had not been seen in public for months while undergoing cancer treatment, joining him on the inauguration platform to deliver his oath of office in January 2005.

Bush called it a sign of the chief justice's character.

''Many will never forget the sight of this man, weakened by his illness, rise to his full height and say in a strong voice 'Raise your right hand, Mr. President, and repeat after me,' " he said.

The eight surviving justices attended, marching into the cathedral ahead of the flag-draped coffin. Judge John G. Roberts Jr. of the US Court of Appeals, whom Bush has nominated to replace Rehnquist as chief justice, was also present.

President Bush and his wife, Laura, sat in the front row, with Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne.

Other dignitaries included the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee; the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Although he was a Lutheran, Rehnquist had a strong link to St. Matthew's.

The cathedral, which was also the site of President John F. Kennedy's funeral Mass in 1963, hosts the annual Red Mass, a traditional service at the start of each Supreme Court term to ask God's guidance for the legal profession.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, said St. Matthew's was honored to host a service memorializing a ''tireless champion of life." This was a reference to Rehnquist's opposition to abortion.

McCarrick also referenced one of Rehnquist's most disputed decisions: his vote with the 5-to-4 conservative majority that halted the recount of Florida's presidential ballots in 2000. That decision delivered the presidency to Bush over Vice President Al Gore.

Standing a few feet from Bush, McCarrick recalled a luncheon he and Rehnquist attended in January 2001, the month after the Bush v. Gore decision. Rehnquist told McCarrick he was going to deliver an address about ''the disputed presidential election," and McCarrick voiced concern that it was too soon to talk about it. But Rehnquist was full of surprises.

''It was Hayes vs. Tilden, and the year was 1876," McCarrick said, as laughter rippled through the congregation.

O'Connor recalled meeting the future chief justice when he was working as dining hall busboy while both were Stanford University undergraduates.

The two went on to be law school classmates, and then fellow Republicans in Phoenix politics, a lifelong friendship made extraordinary when both rose to the Supreme Court.

She also recalled how Rehnquist surprised his fellow justices by appearing in January 1995 with four gold stripes sewn on his sleeves. The stripes were a tribute to Gilbert & Sullivan's ''Iolanthe," a musical comedy in which the character of the Lord Chancellor adds a gold bar to his sleeves for each year he was on the bench.

''We thought it was a joke . . . [but] the stripes stayed," O'Connor said. ''He could have added more later, but he never did."

Bush, who praised Rehnquist as being ''prudent in exercising judicial power and firm in defending judicial independence," said the chief justice knew how to live life passionately: ''Having stood next to him during the National Anthem, I can tell you, the man loved to sing," Bush joked.

But the president concluded on a serious note, noting Rehnquist's ''faithful service to God and country to the very end."

After the service, Rehnquist was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a private ceremony.