It’s interesting that among Reagan scholars, there is considerable question as to how “conservative” Bork was. Look, for example, at Steven Hayward’s book.
Well, I guess we’ll never know since he never got to vote on any cases before the Supreme Court.
Before Reagan nominated him, Gerald Ford actually considered Bork for SCOTUS, but took him off his list, concluding (probably unfortunately correctly) that “Bork would be an ideal GOP justice, but is too controversial and unconfirmable)
Bork’s books and essays after his failed SCOTUS nomination certainly fit the category of “conservative fire-breather” though.
And interesting fact, Bork died in Dec. 2012, so assuming he had been confirmed and assuming he had served a lifetime appointment and not retired from the bench, a newly re-elected President Obama would have named his replacement.