July 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush selected John G. Roberts Jr., a Washington federal appeals court judge with a limited public record on social issues, to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Roberts, 50, would succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the court's current swing vote on abortion and affirmative action. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first new justice since 1994.

Roberts has ``one of the best legal minds of his generation,'' Bush said in brief nationally televised remarks in the East Wing of the White House. Calling Roberts a man with ``a good heart,'' the president described him as someone with ``experience, wisdom, fairness and civility.''

Roberts is one of the country's most experienced Supreme Court practitioners. He has argued 39 times at the high court on behalf of the U.S. government and private clients.

``I always got a lump in my throat before I walked up those marble steps to argue before the court and I don't think it was just because of the nerves,'' Roberts said, standing alongside Bush.

In choosing Roberts, Bush opted for a nominee who may draw less opposition than more outspoken candidates would have. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate on a voice vote for his seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003.

Cautious Choice

``This is a very cautious appointment,'' said Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, who helped lead the fight to defeat the 1987 Supreme nomination of conservative Robert Bork.

Roberts is a former law clerk to then-Justice William H. Rehnquist and former deputy solicitor general under George H.W. Bush, the current president's father.

One issue certain to be scrutinized is a brief he signed, while in the solicitor general's office, that included a footnote calling for the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that granted women a right to abortion.

As a private litigator, Roberts often served corporate clients, among them Toyota Motor Corp. and the American Gaming Association. Roberts also argued at a lower court for a group of states suing Microsoft Corp. for antitrust violations.

On the appeals court, Roberts has signaled he favors at least some limits on the power of Congress to regulate commerce. He voted to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling that applied the Endangered Species Act to protect a type of California toad.

Roberts said the panel ruling ``seems inconsistent'' with Supreme Court precedent. At the same time, he suggested he would be open to other arguments in favor of the law.

Roberts last week joined a 3-0 opinion upholding the use of military tribunals to try terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Legal Policies

Liberal groups said they are concerned about Roberts's work in the Justice Department as deputy to Solicitor General Ken Starr.

He ``helped craft legal policies that sought to weaken school desegregation efforts, the reproductive rights of women, environmental protections, church-state separation and the voting rights of African Americans,'' said Nan Aron, head of the Alliance for Justice in Washington.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid in a statement opted not to criticize Roberts' record. ``The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry,'' he said. ``The Senate must review Judge Roberts's record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness.''

Roberts graduated from Harvard University with highest honors and Harvard Law School, where he served as managing editor of the Harvard Law Review, with high honors.

The Court's Direction

Roberts may chart the Supreme Court's direction on church- state separation, congressional power, campaign-finance laws, abortion and racial preferences. On each of those issues, O'Connor's votes often determined the outcome.

The immediate challenge for the White House will be to win confirmation in the Senate, where the Democrats' only recourse to block the nomination would be a filibuster, a parliamentary tactic that uses unlimited debate to prevent a vote.

Republicans control the Senate with 55 of the 100 senators, five short of the number needed to shut off a filibuster. The outcome may be determined by a group of 14 senators, seven from each party, whose May 23 agreement averted a showdown over a group of Bush's lower court nominees.

Abortion may prove to be the pivotal issue in the confirmation fight, much as it was in 1987 when the Senate defeated the nomination of Bork.

Of the eight remaining justices, five have voted to reaffirm abortion rights, although one member of that group, Justice Anthony Kennedy, would allow restrictions. In 2000, Kennedy voted to allow a Nebraska ban on a procedure opponents called ``partial birth abortion.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 19, 2005 21:37 EDT