With the Senate already adjourned, Eisenhower made a recess appointment of William J. Brennan to the Court shortly thereafter; Brennan was formally nominated to the Court and confirmed in 1957. The fact that Eisenhower put Brennan on the Court is inconsistent with any tradition of leaving a seat vacant.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
Admitted to California bar, 1962; U. S. Tax Court bar, 1971; Associate, Thelen, Marrin, John & Bridges, San Francisco, 1961-63; sole practitioner, Sacramento, 1963-67; partner, Evans, Jackson & Kennedy, Sacramento, 1967-75. Professor of constitutional law, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, 1965-1988.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/kennedy.bio.html
The first nomination during an election year in the twentieth century came on March 13, 1912, when President William Taft (a Republican) nominated Mahlon Pitney to succeed John Marshall Harlan, who died on October 14, 1911.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
President Woodrow Wilson (a Democrat) made two nominations during 1916. On January 28, 1916, Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to replace Joseph Rucker Lamar, who died on January 2, 1916; the Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Brandeis on June 1, 1916, by a vote of forty-seven to twenty-two.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
It was in '87 when he nominated him, so obviously it was still earlier in the year. If this was November, October or September of last year where the president had more than a year left in office, then perhaps this would be a different discussion, Rubio said. President Reagan nominated Kennedy after his first choice, Robert Bork, was rejected by Senate Democrats in 1987. Many political figures have weighed in on Scalia's death and its implications for the 2016 race.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/republicans-reject-comparisons-reagan-s-late-term-scotus-nominee-n518696
A Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Kennedy (who followed Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg as nominees for that slot) on February 3, 1988, by a vote of ninety-seven to zero. In two instances in the twentieth century, presidents were not able to nominate and confirm a successor during an election year.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/supreme-court-vacancies-in-presidential-election-years/
Born July 23, 1936 in Sacramento, California. Married Mary Davis, June 29, 1963; Children: Justin Anthony, Gregory Davis, and Kristin Marie. Stanford University, 1954-57; London School of Economics, 1957-58; Stanford University, B.A., 1958; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1961.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/kennedy.bio.html
Nominated by President Ford to U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; took oath of office May 30, 1975. Nominated by President Reagan as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; took oath of office February 18, 1988.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/justices/kennedy.bio.html
Republican presidential hopefuls have claimed that President Barack Obama lacks precedent to nominate a judge to the Supreme Court late in his term, rejecting comparisons to former President Ronald Reagan's late-term appointment of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/republicans-reject-comparisons-reagan-s-late-term-scotus-nominee-n518696
When Dickerson noted that Reagan appointed a Supreme Court justice later in his second term — Kennedy was nominated in November 1987, when Reagan had just over 13 months left in office, and confirmed in February 1988 — his fact check prompted boos from the debate audience.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/republicans-reject-comparisons-reagan-s-late-term-scotus-nominee-n518696
when was kennedy nominated
Kennedy was nominated on February 3, 1988. Kennedy was nominated on February 3, 1988.  