President Bush has nominated his former personal lawyer and the White House counsel to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, eschewing tradition by selecting a non-judge.

Harriet Miers, 60, who has been a close ally of the President since his days as Governor of Texas and whom he once described as a "pit bull in size 6 shoes", would be the third woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court if her nomination is approved by the Senate.

Mrs O’Connor was a key swing vote on the closely divided Supreme Court and her replacement will undergo more scrutiny intense scrutiny than the nominee for Chief Justice, John Roberts, who was confirmed last week.

In fact, Mrs Miers's nomination received a generally favourable response from Democrats and Senate Republicans. But she was derided by conservative groups as a "stealth nominee" who could betray them on social issues like abortion and gay rights.

One group, Public Advocate, said the nomination was a "betrayal of the conservative, pro-family voters whose support put Bush in the White House in both the 2000 and 2004 elections£.

In an Oval Office ceremony with Ms Miers at his side, Mr Bush credited her with breaking down barriers to women in the Texas legal profession, becoming the first woman to head her Dallas law firm, the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association and the first woman elected president of the state bar of Texas.

"I believe that senators of both parties will find that Harriet Miers’s talent, experience and judicial philosophy make her a superb choice to safeguard the constitutional liberties and quality of all Americans," he said.

The President called on the Senate to conduct her confirmation hearings with "the same respect and civility" granted to Justice Roberts.

He said that Ms Miers would not legislate from the bench, one of his requirements for judicial nominees "I ask the Senate to review her qualifications thoroughly and fairly and to vote on her nomination promptly," he said.

Ms Miers said that she looked forward to the confirmation process. "If confirmed I recognise that I will have a tremendous responsibility to keep our judicial system strong and to help ensure that the courts meet their obligations to strictly apply the laws in the Constitution," she said.

A senior administration official said that Ms Miers’s name came up in consultations with both Republican and Democratic senators as someone who could win bipartisan support.

The official also said some senators from both parties thought it was important for Mr Bush to pick someone who was not a judge and could offer a different perspective on the job. The President offered her the job on Sunday night over dinner at the White House, the official said.

Ms Miers has represented Mr Bush personally and as a candidate for governor and president. In Austin, when he was Governor, Mr Bush appointed her to head the Texas Lottery Commission.

Legal experts have said that if Mr Bush chose someone without a judicial record, the White House should be prepared for the nominee to be peppered with questions, as there would be less for senators and the public to go on when looking at such a nominee's judicial philosophy.

Jerry Clements, a former colleague who heads the litigation section for the Dallas law firm of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, had previously described Ms Miers as an independent character.

"Harriet Miers is not a 'yes' person," Ms Clements added. "She has the character and the capabilities to say 'no' if she thinks 'no' is the right answer."

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