President George W. Bush is unpopular with most of the country, and impotent with much of Congress, but he has left his mark on one powerful institution of American life: the US Supreme Court.

Mr Bush got what he wanted with the court, as with so few other things: through two shrewd and judicious new appointments, he has remade America’s top court in his conservative image. And, in the end, that may matter more than all the bad opinion polls and lost Congressional votes – for the Bush court will last much longer than the presidency.