Thurgood Marshall holds out until November 4, 1992

What if Thurgood Marshall had continued as Supreme Court Justice until November 4, 1992, the day the election results were revealed? Would President-Elect Bill Clinton be able to appoint his successor, in January 1993? If so, who would it be? How would this affect the U.S. Supreme Court and, thus, the U.S. and its politics?
 
Clinton could choose the new Justice right away, but the nomination wouldn't be official until January 20.

WJC made two appointments so we have an idea what kind of judge he would have picked. For a specific name, there's probably still somewhere online that says who was on the shortlist. Or look at who the black appellate judges were.
 
amalya+lyle+kearse.jpg

Amalya Lyle Kearse was on Bill Clinton's shortlist for Attorney General, surely it wouldn't be inconceivable that she might get nominated to replace Thurgood Marshall.
 
I don’t know if he could have held out so long. My understanding is that he was having some serious health problems that were badly affecting his performance of duties, and that he didn’t want George Bush to pick his successor to begin with but felt like he didn’t have a choice. IOTL he died on January 24th, 1993; here, with the added stress of being a Supreme Court Justice, he might die a few days earlier.
I wonder if there are any 1992 cases that would have been affected, any 5-4 cases that could have flipped the other way. EDIT: Maybe Jacobson v. United States?
 
Last edited:
I don’t know if he could have held out so long. My understanding is that he was having some serious health problems that were badly affecting his performance of duties, and that he didn’t want George Bush to pick his successor to begin with but felt like he didn’t have a choice. IOTL he died on January 24th, 1993; here, with the added stress of being a Supreme Court Justice, he might die a few days earlier.
I wonder if there are any 1992 cases that would have been affected, any 5-4 cases that could have flipped the other way. EDIT: Maybe Jacobson v. United States?

I read that it was believed that Marshall retired in 1991 because, at the time, following the Gulf War, it was widely believed that George H.W. Bush would win reelection, so he thought that holding out longer was useless.
 
Top