Obama and Biden meet with Supreme Court justices
The pre-inaugural visit has become something of a tradition among incoming presidents. It also gave Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts a fresh start; Obama voted against his confirmation in 2005.
Reporting from Washington — At the invitation of Chief Justice John Roberts, President-elect Barack Obama made a visit to the Supreme Court this afternoon to meet the justices. He was joined by Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.
In deference to security concerns, Obama and Biden entered the court through the underground garage and were escorted upstairs to the ornate conference room.
The pre-inaugural visit was not a first. In 1992, incoming President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore visited the court and shook hands with visitors before walking up the grand marble steps. Before that, President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush visited the court before taking the oath of office in 1981.
For the two Harvard Law graduates -- Obama and Roberts -- the private meetings also offered a chance to patch up any possible hard feelings before next Tuesday's inaugural ceremony.
In 2005, then-Sen. Obama met privately with Roberts when he was facing confirmation and then voted against him the next day on the Senate floor.
Obama said he did so with considerable reluctance. He said Roberts was fully qualified and had the right temperament for the job. But he said Roberts appeared to share "the overarching political philosophy" of the Bush administration that favored the strong over the weak. Obama and Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee, also opposed the other Bush appointee, Justice Samuel A. Alito. Alito was not present for the visit, though he had been at court in the morning.
On Dec. 5, a month after the election, Roberts wrote Obama inviting him to visit. He noted there had been occasional visits in the past prior to the inauguration. "The associate justices and I would be pleased to see that sporadic practice become a congenial tradition," Roberts said. "You will receive a warm welcome from the members of the Court as you prepare to undertake your important responsibilities on behalf of the American people."
