Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination

Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination
Official portrait of Clarence Thomas as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Nominee	Clarence Thomas
Nominated by	George H.W. Bush (president of the United States)
Succeeding	Thurgood Marshall (associate justice)
Date nominated	July 1, 1991
Date confirmed	October 15, 1991
Outcome	Approved by the U.S. Senate
Vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee on motion to report favorably
Votes in favor	7
Votes against	7
Result	Motion failed
Vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a motion to report without recommendation
Votes in favor	13
Votes against	1
Result	Nomination sent to the full Senate without recommendation
Senate confirmation vote
Votes in favor	52
Votes against	48
Result	Confirmed

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On July 1, 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court of the United States to replace Thurgood Marshall, who had announced his retirement.^[1] At the time of his nomination, Thomas was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; President Bush had appointed him to that position in March 1990.

The nomination proceedings were contentious from the start, especially over the issue of abortion. Many women's groups and civil rights groups opposed Thomas based on his conservative political views, just as they had opposed Bush's Supreme Court nominee from the previous year, David Souter.^[2]

Toward the end of the confirmation process, sexual harassment allegations against Thomas by Anita Hill, a law professor who had previously worked under Thomas at the United States Department of Education and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, were leaked to the media from a confidential FBI report. The allegations led to further investigations and a media frenzy about sexual harassment. Televised hearings were re-opened and held by the Senate Judiciary Committee before the nomination was moved to the full, Democratic-controlled Senate for a vote.^[3]

On October 15, 1991, Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States by a narrow Senate majority of 52 to 48. He took the oath of office on October 23, 1991.