Flashback: The Senate defeated Judge Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court on this date in 1987.

​Fully aware of the pending outcome, he said this a few days before the vote in a statement at the White House:

"There should be a full debate and a final Senate decision. In deciding on this course, I harbor no illusions. But a crucial principle is at stake. That principle is the way we select the men and women who guard the liberties of all the American people. That should not be done through public campaigns of distortion. If I withdraw now, that campaign would be seen as a success, and it would be mounted against future nominees. For the sake of the Federal judiciary and the American people, that must not happen. The deliberative process must be restored."

His full statement can be viewed here:
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