The answer to the question “Who is the most powerful man on earth” is generally “The president of the United States”. In two months’ time, it will most probably be Hillary Clinton’s turn to become “the most powerful woman on earth”. Despite the general consensus on this title, the actual award should go to a 61-year-old Harvard graduate and legal expert named John G. Roberts Jr.

Appointed to his post by George W. Bush in 2005, Roberts is the Chief Justice of the United States. His views are conservative, but not overly so, and his function affords him influence over a court comprised of nine judges, all of whom have been granted an indefinite tenure by different presidents of the Unites States. Decisions in the Supreme Court are made through a majority vote by its members, but recent history will remind u [...]