That’s the title of my new Confirmation Tales post, the third in my series on Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 1981. Here’s how it opens:
Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart invited Attorney General William French Smith to his home on Thursday, March 26, 1981. Stewart informed Smith that he intended to retire from the Court in July. Stewart asked Smith to keep the decision confidential, and Smith assured him that he would tell only President Reagan.
On Saturday, Reagan and Smith both went to the Capital Hilton Hotel to attend the Gridiron Club Dinner, noted for its satirical skits. One gag poked fun at Smith’s reputation for saying nothing. Reagan joked that “sometimes our right hand doesn’t know what our far-right hand is doing.”
On Monday, Reagan was at another Hilton, the Washington Hilton, when John Hinckley Jr. severely wounded him in an assassination attempt. In Smith’s judgment, it was “not practical to advise him of the impending vacancy until after he had returned from the hospital.” Reagan was released from the hospital on April 11. But it wasn’t until April 21—26 days after his meeting with Stewart—that Smith informed Reagan that Stewart would be retiring.
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