David Souter is a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and served from October 1990 to June 2009. A Harvard graduate with brilliant educational record, he moved up the ranks very quickly after deciding to join public service following brief private practice. He previously served as Assistant Attorney General of New Hampshire and then as Attorney General, before becoming an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. He was appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court five years later as an Associate Justice and served briefly on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Expected to be a conservative Justice, he gradually shifted towards the center (1) during his career and voted consistently with the liberal judges. Souter, who was once named among 'Washington's 10 Most Eligible Bachelors', never married, and returned to his home state with his "thousands of books" following his retirement.