Senate confirms Roberts, 78-22; he is sworn in as Chief Justice that same evening

Three weeks after Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, the Senate voted 78-22 on September 29, 2005, to confirm John Roberts as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. That evening he was sworn in at the White House, in the East Room, by Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Roberts had been nominated in July to fill a retiring Sandra Day O'Connor's seat; Rehnquist's death redirected the nomination to the Court's top chair. He took the bench in time for the opening of the 2005-2006 term…