"That last hearing was not about Clarence Thomas. It was not about Anita Hill. It was about a massive power struggle going on in this country, a power struggle between women and men, and a power struggle between minoritites and the majority."
Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Washington Post, 6/19/92, A21)
On July 1, 1991, President George Bush nominated Clarence Thomas, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC circuit, to be an associate justice on the US Supreme Court. From September 10 through 20, 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted hearings on Clarence Thomas' qualifications; the nominee testified for five days, and other witnesses were questioned for three days. There was a great deal of controversy about whether Thomas was qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. On September 27 the Judiciary Committee voted 7 to 7 on Thomas' nomination, which sent the issue to the full Senate for a vote without the committee's endorsement.
During August and September 1991 Anita Hill, a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma, communicated to the Senate Judiciary Committee allegations that Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. The alleged harassment occurred during 1981 when she worked as an assistant to Thomas, who was serving as assistant Secretary of Education, and during 1982-83 when she worked for Thomas after he had become chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Hill was relucant to make her charges public but agreed to have her name used in the FBI report. The FBI interviewed her and Thomas and sent its report to the Judiciary Committee; Hill also sent a personal statement to the committee. However, at the time of the Judiciary Committee's vote on Thomas' nomination on September 27, not all of the members had read the report on Hill's allegations and her statement.
Following a leak of Hill's name and at least part of the FBI report, National Public Radio and Newsday publicized Hill's allegations. On October 11 the Judiciary Committee re-opened the hearings on Thomas' nomination. Thomas and Hill each made opening statements. The hearings continued through October 14 with questions asked of Thomas and Hill by committee members and with witnesses testifying on behalf of both individuals. On October 15 the full Senate debated the nomination with many speeches for and against Thomas, culminating on October 16, 1991, in a 52-48 vote in favor of confirming Clarence Thomas as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.