Following the death of Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo in July 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked his old friend Frankfurter for recommendations of prospective candidates for the vacancy. Finding none on the list to suit his criteria, Roosevelt nominated Frankfurter. The Senate confirmation hearing on the nomination of Frankfurter was notable for the opposition which arose. In addition to the objection that he was considered to be the President's unofficial advisor, that he was affiliated with special interest groups, that there were now no justices from west of the Mississippi, opposing groups and individuals appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee pointed to Frankfurter as foreign-born and deemed to be affiliated with an anti-Christian movement viewed as part of a broader Communist infiltration into the country. The controversy permanently changed the process which had been followed for 150 years, being the first time that a nominee for the Supreme Court appeared in person before the Judiciary Committee.