abstract
| - Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 July 9, 1974) was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States and the only person ever elected three times as Governor of California. Prior to holding these positions, Warren served as a California district attorney for Alameda County and Attorney General of California. His tenure in his two highest offices were marked by extreme contrast. As governor of California, Warren's conduct of office made him very popular across party lines, so much so that in the 1946 election he won the nominations of both the Democratic and Republican parties. But his tenure as Chief Justice was as divisive as his governorship was unifying. Liberals generally hailed the landmark rulings issued by the Warren Court, rulings affecting, among other things, the legal status of racial segregation, civil rights, separation of church and state, and police arrest procedure in the United States. But conservatives decried the Court's rulings, particularly in areas affecting criminal proceedings. In the years that followed, the Warren Court became recognized as a high point in the use of the judicial power in the effort to effect social progress in the U.S.; Warren himself became widely regarded as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the history of the United States and perhaps the single most important jurist of the 20th century. In addition to the constitutional offices he held, Warren was also the vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 1948. Warren was the last Chief Justice born in the 19th century.
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