Rehnquist Hailed for Administering Oath

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist fulfilled a promise to President Bush and to himself when he walked slowly to the inaugural platform Thursday and administered the oath of office to the president.

Rehnquist looked frail, used a cane, spoke with a raspy voice and left shortly after the president pronounced the final words, “So help me God.” But the 80-year-old Rehnquist succeeded in performing the most public and ceremonial duty of his office, despite suffering from thyroid cancer. In late October, he had a surgical hole opened in his windpipe.

“I want you to know how touched I was that the chief justice came to administer the oath,” the president said afterward at a luncheon at the Capitol. “That was an incredibly moving part” of the ceremony, he said.

While Rehnquist departed quickly without listening to the president’s inaugural address, the other eight justices remained and joined with congressional leaders at the lunch.

It was Rehnquist’s first public appearance since Oct. 18, shortly before his cancer diagnosis was announced. Court officials say the chief justice has continued to work at home, and he has returned to the court on several occasions to join the justices’ private conferences. He has voted in the cases where his vote was needed for a decision.

However, he has missed all the recent oral arguments and has not appeared in the courtroom.

The court has disclosed few details about Rehnquist’s condition. But the fact that he has been treated with radiation and chemotherapy, rather than surgery, has persuaded outside medical experts that he has the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, which has a poor prognosis.

Rehnquist was admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland on Oct. 22 and the next day underwent a tracheotomy, a procedure that helps a patient breathe.

Rehnquist joined the high court in January 1972, the fourth and final appointee of President Nixon. He became the nation’s 16th chief justice when he was elevated by President Reagan in 1986.

Since then, he has given presidents the oath at five inaugurations -- three of which were to Bushes. His first was the swearing in of President George H.W. Bush in 1989. Following that were the two inaugurations for President Clinton and President Bush’s first inauguration four years ago.

On Thursday, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who hosted the inaugural event, twice referred to Rehnquist as the “chief justice of the Supreme Court,” but his correct title is chief justice of the United States.

Bush is the first president since Jimmy Carter to serve a four-year term without naming a justice to the Supreme Court. It is highly likely, however, that he will get a chance to name a replacement for the chief justice. Even before his illness, Rehnquist was expected to retire shortly after turning 80.

Still, his continued ability to serve can be crucial in some cases.

Last week, for example, the high court preserved the federal sentencing guidelines in a 5-4 decision that depended on Rehnquist’s vote.