Bloomberg
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President Bill Clinton had his eye on the future when he nominated Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court in 1994.
"Judge Breyer will bring to the court a well-recognized and impressive ability to build bridges in pursuit of fairness and justice," Clinton said in announcing his nomination. "In the generations ahead, the Supreme Court will face questions of overriding national importance, many of which we cannot today even imagine."
It's not just the things the court has ruled on that have changed; the atmosphere around Supreme Court confirmations has shifted dramatically.
A few decades ago, nominees often came out of Senate confirmation with large, bipartisan majorities. Breyer was confirmed 87 to 9.