Later this month marks 20 years since John Roberts was sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States. Over those two decades, Roberts has quietly but unmistakably steered the Court in a
more conservative direction.
Legal scholars and court-watchers agree on one thing: Roberts has been a deeply influential Chief Justice. He has often emphasized protecting the democratic process, cautioning against the Court stepping too far into areas better left to the public and elected officials. Yet in doing so, his leadership has moved the Court to the right.
The most striking example came in 2024, when the Court issued a landmark ruling granting former President Donald Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution. That decision cemented the Court’s conservative tilt in the eyes of many Americans. Still, Roberts has not always been aligned with Trump or the Republican agenda. Back in 2012, for instance, he famously angered conservatives by casting the decisive vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Looking ahead, the question that hangs over Roberts’s legacy is whether he will ultimately be remembered as an institutionalist—focused on the Court’s legitimacy and independence—or as an ideological conservative. Future rulings, particularly those involving Trump and American democracy itself, will likely define how history judges his time at the helm. Photo by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States, Wikimedia commons.
