0:43
Breyer has described differences among the justices as contrasts in \"philosophical outlook\" rather than differences of politics and chaffed at the labeling of justices as \"liberal\" or \"conservative.\"
\"Politics to me is who's got the votes. Are you Republican or Democrat? I don't find any of that here,\" he told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in 2015.
While he never enjoyed the rock-star status held by Ginsburg, Breyer has long been revered and celebrated as a consensus-seeker and happy warrior throughout his 27 years on the court. He has also been one of the few justices to be a regular attendee at State of the Union addresses before a joint session of Congress.
Asked in 2017 how he would like to be remembered, Breyer told an interviewer: \"You play the hand you're dealt. You're dealt one. And you do the best with what you have. If people say yes, he did, he tried, he did his best and was a decent person, good.\"
Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Breyer's seat
Jackson, 51, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will fill Justice Breyer's seat, and become the first Black woman to sit on the nation's highest court. With Jackson's ascension to the bench, for the first time, white men will not represent the majority of justices on the Supreme Court.
President Joe Biden formally announced Jackson's nomination earlier this year and fulfilled a campaign promise made ahead of the South Carolina primary when he relied heavily on support from the state's Black voters and Rep. Jim Clyburn.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/ketanji-brown-jackson-gty-ps-220629_1656520228774_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
\"For too long our government, our courts haven't looked like America,\" Biden said in February from the White House. \"And I believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.\"
\"For too long our government, our courts haven't looked like America. I believe it's time we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation.\"
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 25, 2022
Pres. Biden announces he's nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court. https://t.co/3a4NSgY2VS pic.twitter.com/waVVgIWR8w
Jackson, who will also be the nation's first former public defender to sit on the high court, served as a clerk for Breyer from 1999 to 2000 and called it \"extremely humbling to be considered\" for his seat.
\"I know that I could never fill his shoes, but if confirmed, I would hope to carry on his spirit,\" she said.
Three Republicans -- Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney -- joined Senate Democrats in voting to confirm Jackson in April, marking a solid, bipartisan win for the Biden White House.
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