Nonetheless, legal activists, congressional staffers and most Washington newsrooms were convinced that the speculation was correct.
Now that Rehnquist has shown that the speculation was wrong, Bush is faced with a clearer choice -- as well as a dilemma.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday July 19, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Supreme Court -- An article in Friday's Section A about Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Melville Fuller was chief justice from 1890 to 1910. He led the court from 1888 to 1910.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday February 15, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Supreme Court -- An article in Section A on July 15 about Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist referred to William H. Douglas as one of the longest-serving Supreme Court justices in history. It should have said William O. Douglas.
On the one hand, he knows he can fill only the seat held by O'Connor. He need not juggle two seats that would have been vacant had Rehnquist followed O'Connor into retirement. Many in Washington had expected Bush to appease moderates with O'Connor's replacement and to offer a more staunchly conservative nominee for Rehnquist's seat.
But it will be harder for Bush to satisfy all the elements of his Republican coalition with a single candidate. Although conservatives want him to choose a strongly conservative judge to replace O'Connor, moderates and independents have told pollsters they do not want to see the court move sharply to the right.
Specific information about Rehnquist's health has been hard to come by since the court's brief announcement in late October that he had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had undergone surgery to insert a hole in his windpipe. The tracheotomy allowed him to breathe more easily while he underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
Rehnquist did not return to the bench until mid-March, although he participated in Bush's inauguration in January. He has looked frail in recent weeks and has continued to have discomfort with the hole in his windpipe.
Despite Rehnquist's illness, his colleagues said this year that he was fully prepared to discuss and debate the cases that were voted on in the court's private conference each week. Rehnquist led off the discussions, and he was known for running the meetings efficiently. His written opinions were clear and concise.
Since the court's term ended last month, Rehnquist has been working daily in his chambers, and on Monday he took charge of a request for an emergency appeal in a death penalty case.
After a Virginia man was convicted of murder, a county clerk threw out the evidence in the case, including DNA samples, even though the prisoner maintained his innocence.
His lawyers, who included former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, urged the Supreme Court to halt the execution and consider the legal question involving the discarded DNA evidence.
