Plot Synopsis

In July 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated Judge Clarence Thomas to fill Justice Thurgood Marshall's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. In October, during the final days of Thomas' confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, presided over by chairman Democratic Senator Joe Biden, both Newsday and NPR broke the story that one of Thomas' former employees, law professor Anita Hill, had accused him of sexually harassing her ten years earlier. These revelations triggered a maelstrom of events, with both Hill and Thomas testifying about the allegations before a stunned and riveted television audience. Two women, Angela Wright and Rose Jourdain, made statements to Senate staffers in support of Hill. Ultimately, however, the Judiciary Committee dismissed them both without testifying. Thomas was confirmed by a narrow majority of 52 to 48. "Confirmation" depicts a pivotal moment in American culture that became a turning point in workplace equality and gender politics.