Bush Names Nominee for Supreme Court

Bush: "I have found such a person in Judge John Roberts, and tonight I'm honored to announce that I'm nominating him to serve as associate justice of the Supreme Court."

President Bush names his nominee to the nations' highest court. After weeks of speculation, the President broke his silenceon who he wishes to fill the seat on the Supreme Court vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor.

Judge John G. Roberts of Buffalo was nominated to the bench in a surprise move that caught many Washington insiders off guard. The big announcement came during a prime time address Tuesday evening in Washington DC.

After much speculation, President Bush surprised the nation by naming Judge John G. Roberts of Buffalo as his pick to succeed retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The President called 50-year-old Roberts andsaid he was the right man for the job.

John G. Roberts, Jr. Supreme Court judge nominee : "It is both an honor and very humbling to be nominated to serve on the Supreme Court."

Many analysts assumed the President would nominate a woman to thenation's highest court. Frontrunner Edith Clement and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have both been passed over in favor of the lesser-knownRoberts.

Bush: "My decision to nominate Judge Roberts came after a thoroughand deliberative process."

And while Roberts lacks national name recognition, he is a GOP heavyweight and Washington insider who has worked in the White House at, the Justice Department and in a highly-successful private practice.

Roberts graduated from Harvard, undergrad and law, and once clerked for Chief Justice William Renquist.

Bush: "He is a man of ability, he has a good heart, he has the qualities Americans expect in a judge."

Abortion rights groups have already came out against the nominee. In1990, Roberts co-wrote a brief that suggested the Supreme Court shouldoverturn Roe versus Wade. Democratic senators say they will rigorouslyquestion the candidate on his views:

Sen. Charles Schumer, NY-Dem:"It is vital Roberts answer a wide range of questions openly, honestly and fully in the coming months."

A senior administration official told CBS News that Roberts flew in from London where he's teaching a law course to meet with the President and was offered the job.

That's So New York