The Annotated Bobblehead Justice Antonin Scalia

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Antonin Scalia, 1986-2016

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1936, Antonin Scalia was the son of an Italian immigrant father and later college professor and an Italian-American schoolteacher. Known as "Nino" to his friends, Scalia grew up in Queens, New York. He graduated first in his class from Xavier High School in Manhattan. Despite being valedictorian, Scalia was rejected by Princeton and went to Georgetown. There he again graduated as valedictorian, summa cum laude, with a B.A. in history. He graduated from Harvard Law magna cum laude in 1960. Scalia's path to the Supreme Court included private practice, teaching law at the University of Virginia and University of Chicago, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel under Presidents Nixon and Ford, and appointment by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1986 to fill Justice Rehnquist's position when Rehnquist became Chief Justice. Scalia was confirmed by the Senate in a unanimous vote. He was the first Italian-American to sit on the Court.