Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening at his home in Arlington, suburban Virginia, at the age of 80, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

"The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his dues on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days," she said in a statement.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Richard Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1982. He was elevated to chief justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Source: Xinhua