Since the Supreme Court has been in the news recently, here's a lovely thread of how we got here. We first must go back 52 years in time.

The year is 1968 and the Warren Court has radically transformed the United States. While many Liberals celebrate many of these new rulings, Conservatives were concerned that the Court was overstepping its limits.

In June of 1968, Chief Justice Warren retired. Warren left due to being wary of former VP Nixon being able to choose his replacement. In turn, President Johnson nominated his friend Justice Fortas to be Chief Justice. In turn, Johnson picked Homer Thornberry for the other seat

However, Fortas faced trouble in the Senate. There were concerns over his relationship with LBJ and ethics concerns about his finances. He also ran into trouble with Senator Strom Thurmond who used porno films to damage Fortas's public image. His nomination was dropped in October

President-elect Nixon would get to replace Warren. He chose Conservative Jurist Warren Burger as his nominee. Burger would be confirmed easily and would start the slow process of moving the court to the right as Chief Justice. Though he was criticized for his conduct as Chief

In May of 1969, Justice Fortas was forced to resign due to ethics misconduct. Nixon chose Clement Haynsworth and then Harrold Carswell. Both would be rejected in the Senate. Harry Blackmun would be Nixon's third choice and easily confirmed. Blackman would go on to write Roe.

In 1971, Justice Hugo Black retired. President Nixon chose corporate lawyer Lewis Powell for the seat. Powell was easily confirmed and soon became the Burger Court's swing vote.

Also in 1971, the Conservative from the Warren Court Justice John Marshall Harlan retired on health grounds. His replacement was the US Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel William Rehnquist. Rehnquist would become the leader of the Conservative bloc of the Court

In 1975, Justice William O. Douglas retired. President Ford named Chicago Jurist John Paul Stevens who gained notoriety for tackling corruption in Illinois as his nominee. Stevens was easily confirmed and start off as a moderate but became apart of the Liberal bloc.

By 1977, the Supreme Court had moved from a liberal court to a centrist one. The Conservative bloc was made up of Justices Rehnquist, White, Burger. The swig bloc was of Justices Powell, Stewart, Stevens. The Liberal bloc was made up of Justices Brennan, Marshall, Blackman

In 1981, swing vote Justice Potter Stewart retired. President Reagan followed through on his promise of a women jurist and named Sandra Day O'Connor as his nominee. She was confirmed and became the first woman Justice. She was to Stewart's right, but still could be a swing vote.

In 1986, Chief Justice Burger retired. President Reagan choose Justice Rehnquist as his replacement, In turn, Reagan chose DC Jurist Antonin Scalia to replace Rehnquist as a Associate Justice. Both were easily confirmed.Scalia soon became the intellectual leader of the right bloc

In 1987, Justice Powell retired. President Reagan choose DC Jurist Robert Bork as his replacement. Democratic groups saw Bork taking the swing seat as a threat. A charge lead by Senator Ted Kennedy accused Bork of wanting to take America back to the 1960s.

There were also concerns over Bork's involvement in Watergate. In the end, Bork was rejected by the Senate. Republicans never forgave Dems for this. That fall, Reagan nominated DC Jurist Douglas Ginsburg for the vacant seat. However, he was forced to withdraw due to Marijuana use

On the third go, President Reagan chose 9th Circuit Judge Anthony Kennedy to replace Justice Powell. Kennedy unlike the previous other two was confirmed and joined the court in 1988. Kennedy would become the Chief Libertarian on the Court and at times, the chief swing vote.