“I’m stronger than mule piss” on this guy, he answered.

But the Republican determination despite the charges left raw feelings that will not dissipate soon. “They are just blasting through one rule and one tradition after another,” said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip. “If that does not change, it is going to be hard to repair the institutional damage here.”

Wariness of ‘a Bush Guy’

Mr. Trump was not especially enthusiastic about making Judge Kavanaugh his second Supreme Court nominee in the first place. The judge’s prior service as a White House aide to President George W. Bush made him suspect to Mr. Trump, who did not relish the idea of “a Bush guy” as his choice. Indeed, Mr. McConnell had warned against Judge Kavanaugh because of his paper trail, viewing other candidates as more easily confirmed.

Aides, led by Mr. McGahn, convinced Mr. Trump that Judge Kavanaugh would be the choice that would best suit the conservative movement, whose support has meant so much to the president. But they anticipated that this fight would be nastier, more brutal and more partisan than the one last year for Justice Neil M. Gorsuch because the direction of the court would be at stake.

As a result, aides told the president that he had to be fully invested in his selection and take a personal stake in his success. That was why even after the formal interview, they arranged for Mr. Trump to have a second meeting with Judge Kavanaugh, this one including their wives for nearly two hours in the White House residence the night before the announcement in July.

The White House set up a larger operation than it did for Justice Gorsuch, opening a war room on the fourth floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with 11 lawyers and a couple of communications specialists aided by a team of lawyers at the Justice Department. They treated it as if it were a campaign, lining up more than 600 supportive statements and placing more than 200 op-ed pieces, not just in national newspapers but in those from key states like Maine, Arizona, Alaska and West Virginia. Outside groups on both sides aired millions of dollars worth of advertising.

Mr. McGahn, who is stepping down after this nomination, devoted much of his time to the battle, talking with Mr. McConnell nearly every day and calling another half dozen senators most days. He and his team decided early on to hitch their wagon to Mr. McConnell, at times intentionally walling themselves off from the president and the White House.