Chief Justice Rehnquist Dead at 80

Chief Justice of the United States William Hubbs Rehnquist has died at age 80. Rehnquist was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October 2004 and had been receiving radiation and chemotherapy treatments on an outpatient basis.

William Rehnquist was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon, taking his seat as an Associate Justice on Jan. 7, 1972. He was nominated as Chief Justice by President Ronald Reagan and assumed that office on September 26, 1986. Rehnquist is now the longest serving Chief Justice since Melville Fuller, who died in office in 1910.

Rehnquist was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Oct. 1, 1924. After graduating from high school, he attended Kenyon College for one year before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Force.

According to a CNN story, Chief Justice Rehnquist died at an Arlington, Virginia, hospital surrounded by his three children, James, Janet, and Nancy.