William Rehnquist, the sixteenth chief justice of the United States of America, was an eminent jurist and a member of the conservative wing of the court. He presided over many important and significant cases in his long career and considered himself as an ‘apostle of judicial restraint’. He was a fierce advocate of federalism and wrote numerous majority opinions that cut back the power of the federal government and granted more autonomy to the states. The National League of Cities versus Usery case was one of those in which Rehnquist struck down a federal statute that regulated the wages and hours of state government employees. His court is remembered for stopping the vote count in Florida in the George W Bush versus Al Gore US presidential election case of 2000. The ruling resulted in giving state’s electoral votes and the presidency to Republican candidate Bush.
