Burger-Blackmun Relationship: Lessons for Collegiality from the Blackmun Papers, The

The [Blackmun] Papers have extensive correspondence, diaries, and other documents illuminating the relationship between Blackmun and Burger. The general thesis presented by Woodward & Amrstrong, Lewis, Greenhouse, Totenberg, and Munford is accurate. This article examines the Papers in detail, against the backdrop of the literature on collegiality. We find a very complex relationship: in the 1950s and 1960s, Burger provided a vital Washington connection for, and political clout to, Blackmun.

During those two decades, Blackmun was a key link back to Minnesota, and a solic supporter for Burger. When the two became colleagues on the Supreme Court in 1970, their previous symbolic relation could not adapt to their new roles requiring equality.