Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist served the Supreme Court and the nation with loyalty and distinction.

His death marks the end of an era and 33 years of tenure on our nation’s highest court.

Rehnquist, 80, died after a battle with thyroid cancer he was diagnosed with in October.

The death of the conservative justice gives President Bush a rare second vacancy to fill. Rehnquist was appointed by President Nixon in 1971 and took his seat in January 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986.

During his tenure, Rehnquist oversaw the court’s conservative shift, was a minority vote in the Roe v. Wade ruling, presided over an impeachment trial of President Clinton and helped resolve a decisive presidential election in 2000 in Bush’s favor.

During his tenure, Rehnquist crafted decisions that sought to restore power to the states, which had been slowly eroded by the court. He opposed abortion and affirmative action, voted to speed up executions and wrote the opinion upholding a Ten Commandments display in Texas.

Rehnquist was severely disappointed when the court passed up what he believed was an opportunity to rule the Pledge of Allegiance was constitutional in public schools.

He usually voted with the four other more conservative justices on the court known as the “Rehnquist five,” Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O’Connor.

Rehnquist was a chief justice who certainly ruled by the law and didn’t rule on personal philosophy as so many judges seem to do today.

He set many milestones in his life and was closing in on becoming only the fifth justice to serve on the bench 34 years or longer.

President Bush has nominated John Roberts to fill the chief justice slot. If confirmed, he certainly has some big shoes to fill since Rehnquist unquestionably left his mark on the court.