Loading...Biography
Robert was born in 1927. He passed away in 2012.
Bork was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was Harry Philip Bork Jr. (1897-1974), a steel company purchasing agent, and his mother was Elisabeth (née Kunkle; 1898-2004), a schoolteacher. His father was of German and Irish ancestry, while his mother was of Pennsylvania Dutch (German) descent.
He served with the United States Marine Corps and commenced practicing law privately, prior to taking the position of professor at the Yale Law School in 1962. Associated with the Republican Party, Bork was named US Solicitor General in 1972 and remained at that capacity until 1977. Bork was elevated to Acting Attorney General in October 1973, following the resignations of Elliott Richardson and William Ruckelshaus, when they refused President Nixon's order to fire Independent Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was investigating the Watergate Scandal. Bork fired Cox. The incident would be referred to as the "Saturday Night Massacre."
Bork's name would again come to national prominence in 1987, when President Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy which would be left by the retiring Lewis Powell. The Senate rejected Bork's nomination with the Democrats citing Bork was "too conservative in his views on issues, notably abortion rights."
During debate over his nomination, Bork's video rental history was leaked to the press. His video rental history was unremarkable, and included such harmless titles as A Day at the Races, Ruthless People, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. Writer Michael Dolan wrote about it for the Washington City Paper. Dolan justified accessing the list on the ground that Bork himself had stated that Americans had only such privacy rights as afforded them by direct legislation. The incident led to the enactment of the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act.
After retiring from the bench in 1988, he authored several books. He died of complications from a heart ailment.
Sources
See also:
- Wikipedia: Robert Bork
- Wikidata: Item Q1365780, en:Wikipedia
- "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCCW-JB3 : accessed 28 August 2021), Robert Bork in household of Harry Bork, Pittsburgh (Districts 1-250), Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumerat...
- "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQW8-GV2 : 7 January 2021), Robt Bork in household of Harry P Bork, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 69-40...
- "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDT7-NMR : 12 January 2021), Robert H Bork, 19 Dec 2012; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: ...
