This morning, President Bush re-nominated Judge John Roberts, this time to the position of Chief Justice, to succed William H. Rehnquist who died on Saturday night.

Justice Rehnquist was known to want to match the Supreme Court tenure record of John Marshall, who served on the Court (as Chief Justice) from February 4, 1801 until July 6, 1835. Rehnquist died a year before matching his hero's tenure.

John Roberts is only 50 years old and if his health holds up (and there's no reason to think it wouldn't) might surpass the two longest-serving justices by the time his service on the Court comes to an end.

This nomination is very interesting strategery by President Bush, and is probably a very smart move given the Democrat's apparent (and proper) inability to block Roberts' elevation to the Supreme Court. This tactic should make filling both vacancies easier than it might have been if he had left Roberts' nomination as an Associate Justice and found a new candidate for Chief.

Despite my misgivings about President Bush, every once in a while he reminds us that he is a crafty politician and didn't rise to this level by accident.