Is the president's power to appoint new justices to the US Supreme Court actually significant?

The appointment process is significant because Supreme Court justices serve for life, and that means presidents rarely have the opportunity to make their mark through the appointments process. Barack Obama, for example, was only able to nominate two judges to the Court despite serving for eight years.

Because justices serve for life unless they contravene the "good behaviour" rule, the addition of a new justice with a certain political or judicial bias is likely to influence the law for decades to come. However, while it is clear that the Supreme Court is in many ways a partisan atmosphere and that presidents almost always appoint those of their own political persuasion, judges do not always follow their appointer's beliefs. Eisenhower, a Republican, appointed William Brennan and Earl Warren to the court, and they turned out to pursue a liberal agenda. In this way, the presidential power of justice appointment is perhaps not quite as important as many believe.