Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who died Sunday, was at the center of two of the more divisive Supreme Court nominations in recent history.
Specter was a controversial figure himself, having lost his Senate seat by defecting from the Republican party in 2009.
But before he lost his seat, he famously angered conservatives in 1987 by voting against Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork.
Current Justice Anthony Kennedy eventually took the seat.
Four years later though, Specter again ruffled some feathers, this time by backing the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas and attacking the credibility of Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment.
The public outcry over his attacks nearly cost him his Senate seat in 1992, the New York Times reported in his obituary.
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