Warren Earl Burger served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986. Burger, who had previously served as a federal appellate court judge and as assistant attorney general, was deeply committed to modernizing and streamlining the U.S. court system. A judicial centrist, Burger sought a more limited role for the Supreme Court after the tenure of his predecessor, Earl Warren.

Burger was born on September 17, 1907, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from high school, he financed his formal education by taking a job as an insurance salesman. Burger completed his academic requirements at night by attending the University of Minnesota for two years and then enrolling at the St. Paul College of Law (now William Mitchell College of Law). He graduated from law school in 1931 and was admitted to the Minnesota bar the same year. Burger joined one of the leading law firms in...