On June 25, 1997, Sotomayor was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which was vacated by J. Daniel Mahoney. Her nomination was initially expected to have smooth sailing, with the American Bar Association giving her a "well qualified" professional assessment, but as the The New York Times described, "[it became] embroiled in the sometimes tortured judicial politics of...