Yeah, I love it. Bush actually appoints far more conservative justices than Reagan, despite governing far to
Ronnie’s left. Go figure.
While on the surface that seems true, when you dig a little deeper it's not as simple as it looks.
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed because Reagan had pledged to appoint the first woman to the Court. This was just eight years after Roe v. Wade and the whole notion of what to look for in an originalist justice was not even really known. O'Connor seemed like a safe bet, history proved otherwise.
Scalia was Reagan's second appointment and I don't think ANYONE will argue that he was a bad choice.
Anthony Kennedy was Reagan's final appointment and even though he is now considered the "swing vote" he is still far more conservative than O'Connor.
However, the biggest thing to remember with Kennedy is that he was Reagan's THIRD choice. We all remember Bork, and this was the first time a Supreme Court appointee had EVER been challenged based on his politics and not qualifications. Reagan then nominated Douglas Ginsburg, but his nomination was withdrawn because he had smoked marjuana twenty years before (something that would not even get a bit of attention today). It is worth noting that had Ginsburg been confirmed, he would certainly be among the most conservative justices on the Court if his record on the D.C. Court of Appeals is any indication. Reagan finally settled on Kennedy because everyone assured him that he would sail through confirmation and this was important, the Senate Iran-Contra hearings had just finished, Bork was trashed, and the 1988 election was coming up, Reagan needed to resolve the matter as expediently as possible and Kennedy was "safe".