Harry A. Blackmun

Harry Blackmun was born in southern Illinois and raised in Minnesota. One of his earliest friends from his days in grade school was Warren Burger; they would later serve together on the nation's highest court.

Blackmun attended Harvard College and graduated with a degree in mathematics. He completed his law degree at Harvard and then clerked for a federal appeals court judge in Minneapolis. He then entered private legal practice until President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Blackmun to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Blackmun was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Nixon following the Senate's rejection of two other Nixon nominees.

Early on, Blackmun was frequently paired with conservative Chief Justice Warren Burger. Within a short time, however, Blackmun emerged as a sympathetic liberal. Perhaps his most famous (or infamous) opinion recognized a constitutional right to abortion. The result was a tirade of abuse on Blackmun personally and on the Court he served.

In 1994, after nearly 24 years of service, Blackmun announced his decision to retire. His sentimentalism endeared him to liberals, though Blackmun insisted he did not change his views. At his retirement news conference, Blackmun reflected on his first day as a Justice. His rhetorical question posed on his first day of service -- "What am I doing here?" -- offers a puzzling clue to the core of his jurisprudence.