On the anniversary of the 1954 nomination of Republican Earl Warren as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ed Whelan of the National Review Online characterized as “accurate[]” former President Eisenhower's description of the pick as a “damned-fool mistake.” Whelan did not mention that the Eisenhower quote was in reference to Warren's historic opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court decision that prohibited racial segregation.

Whelan, legal expert for the right-wing NRO, regularly comments on dates of legal events in a regular series called “This Day In Liberal Judicial Activism.” In selecting the nomination of Warren to emphasize his agreement that this Chief Justice was a "mistake," Whelan did not describe Eisenhower's motivations for the comment. As reported by The New York Times:

“The biggest damn fool mistake I ever made,” Dwight D. Eisenhower said of his appointment of Chief Justice Earl Warren, who discomfited him with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling ordering desegregation of public schools, and other liberal opinions.

In Warren's obituary, the Times described the impact of the Supreme Court under Warren, a legacy left unexplained by Whelan:

The parts that constituted the whole [of the Warren Court] were embodied in a series of decisions that had the collective effect of reinforcing popular liberties. Among these were rulings that:

Outlawed school segregation.

Enunciated the one-man, one-vote doctrine.

Made most of the Bill of Rights binding on the states.

Curbed wiretapping.

Upheld the right to be secure against “unreasonable” searches and seizures.

Buttressed the right to counsel.

Underscored the right to a jury trial.

Barred racial discrimination in voting, in marriage laws, in the use of public parks, airports and bus terminals and in housing sales and rentals.

Extended the boundaries of free speech.

Ruled out compulsory religious exercises in public schools.

Restored freedom of foreign travel.

Knocked out the application of both the Smith and the McCarran Acts--both designed to curb “subversive” activities.

Held that Federal prisoners could sue the Government for injuries sustained in jail.

Said that wages could not be garnished without a hearing.

Liberalized residency requirements for welfare recipients.

Sustained the right to disseminate and receive birth control information.