Since U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor resigned July 1, speculation has focused on who would be President Bush's first nominee to the high court. Would it be another woman or a Hispanic? Would it be a hard-line, "movement" conservative or a moderate, nonideological figure? With Bush's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr., the answer is known: none of the above. Roberts, as one White House counsel put it, has credentials that jump off the page. No fictional, idealized résumé could be more glowing: top of his high school class and football team captain; graduation with honors from...