Eisenhower gives Earl Warren a recess appointment as Chief Justice 24 days after Vinson dies unexpectedly of a heart attack

Chief Justice Fred Vinson died of a heart attack on September 8, 1953, leaving the Court without a chief justice while Brown v. Board awaited reargument. Eisenhower made a recess appointment of California Governor Earl Warren on October 2, 1953 — a three-term Republican governor with no prior federal judicial experience who had been considered for Vice President in 1948 and 1952. Warren was confirmed by the Senate 83-0 on March 1, 1954, two months before the Brown decision. Eisenhower reportedly later called the appointment "the biggest damn-fool mistake I ever made" after Warren engineered a unanimous ruling desegregating American public schools.