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Supreme Court Nominations, 1789-present (present-1789)

The Constitution requires the president to submit nominations to the Senate for its advice and consent. Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, presidents have submitted 160 nominations for the Court, including those for chief justice. Of this total, 124 were confirmed (7 declined to serve). This chart lists nominations officially submitted to the Senate.

Nominee	To Replace	Nominated	Vote	Result & Date
President George Washington
John Jay¹		Sep 24, 1789	V	C	Sep 26, 1789
John Rutledge		Sep 24, 1789	V	C	Sep 26, 1789
William Cushing		Sep 24, 1789	V	C	Sep 26, 1789
Robert Harrison		Sep 24, 1789		D	Sep 26, 1789
James Wilson		Sep 24, 1789	V	C	Sep 26, 1789
John Blair		Sep 24, 1789	V	C	Sep 26, 1789
James Iredell	Harrison	Feb 8, 1790	V	C	Feb 10, 1790
Thomas Johnson	Rutledge	Nov 1, 1791	V	C	Nov 7, 1791
William Paterson	Johnson	Feb 27, 1793		W	Feb 28, 1793
William Paterson	Johnson	Mar 4, 1793	V	C	Mar 4, 1793
John Rutledge²	Jay	Dec 10, 1795	10-14	R	Dec 15, 1795
William Cushing³	Jay	Jan 26, 1796		D	Jan 27, 1796
Samuel Chase	Blair	Jan 26, 1796	V	C	Jan 27, 1796
Oliver Ellsworth⁴	Jay	Mar 3, 1796	21-1	C	Mar 4, 1796
President John Adams
Bushrod Washington	Wilson	Dec 19, 1798	V	C	Dec 20, 1798
Alfred Moore	Iredell	Dec 4, 1799	V	C	Dec 10, 1799
John Jay⁵	Ellsworth	Dec 18, 1800		D	Dec 19, 1800
John Marshall⁶	Ellsworth	Jan 20, 1801	V	C	Jan 27, 1801
President Thomas Jefferson
William Johnson	Moore	Mar 22, 1804	V	C	Mar 24, 1804
H. Brockholst Livingston	Paterson	Dec 13, 1806	V	C	Dec 17, 1806
Thomas Todd	(new seat)	Feb 28, 1807	V	C	Mar 2, 1807
President James Madison
Levi Lincoln	Cushing	Jan 2, 1811		D	Jan 3, 1811
Alexander Wolcott	Cushing	Feb 4, 1811	9-24	R	Feb 13, 1811
John Quincy Adams	Cushing	Feb 21, 1811		D	Feb 22, 1811
Joseph Story	Cushing	Nov 15, 1811	V	C	Nov 18, 1811
Gabriel Duvall	Chase	Nov 15, 1811	V	C	Nov 18, 1811
President James Monroe
Smith Thompson	Livingston	Dec 5, 1823	V	C	Dec 9, 1823
President John Quincy Adams
Robert Trimble	Todd	Apr 11, 1826	27-5	C	May 9, 1826
John Crittenden	Trimble	Dec 17, 1828	23-17	P	Feb 12, 1829
President Andrew Jackson
John McLean	Trimble	Mar 6, 1829	V	C	Mar 7, 1829
Henry Baldwin	Washington	Jan 4, 1830	41-2	C	Jan 6, 1830
James Wayne	Johnson	Jan 6, 1835	V	C	Jan 9, 1835
Roger Taney	Duvall	Jan 15, 1835	24-21	P	Mar 3, 1835
Roger Taney⁷	Marshall	Dec 28, 1835	29-15	C	Mar 15, 1836
Philip Barbour	Duvall	Dec 28, 1835	30-11	C	Mar 15, 1836
William Smith	(new seat)	Mar 3, 1837	23-18	D	Mar 8, 1837
John Catron	(new seat)	Mar 3, 1837	28-15	C	Mar 8, 1837
President Martin Van Buren
John McKinley	(new seat)	Sep 18, 1837	V	C	Sep 25, 1837
Peter Daniel	Barbour	Feb 26, 1841	25-5	C	Mar 2, 1841
President John Tyler
John Spencer	Thompson	Jan 9, 1844	21-26	R	Jan 31, 1844
Reuben Walworth	Thompson	Mar 13, 1844	27-20	W	Jun 17, 1844
Edward King	Baldwin	Jun 5, 1844	29-18	P	Jun 15, 1844
John Spencer	Thompson	Jun 17, 1844		W	Jun 17, 1844
Reuben Walworth⁸	Thompson	Jun 17, 1844		N	Jun 17, 1844
Edward King	Baldwin	Dec 4, 1844		W	Feb 7, 1845
Reuben Walworth	Thompson	Dec 4, 1844		W	Feb 4, 1845
Samuel Nelson	Thompson	Feb 4, 1845	V	C	Feb 14, 1845
John Read	Baldwin	Feb 7, 1845		N
President James Polk
George Woodward	Baldwin	Dec 23, 1845	20-29	R	Jan 22, 1846
Levi Woodbury	Story	Dec 23, 1845	V	C	Jan 31, 1846
Robert Grier	Baldwin	Aug 3, 1846	V	C	Aug 4, 1846
President Millard Fillmore
Benjamin Curtis	Woodbury	Dec 11, 1851	V	C	Dec 20, 1851
Edward Bradford	McKinley	Aug 16, 1852		N
Geoge Badger	McKinley	Jan 3, 1853		W	Feb 14, 1853
William Micou	McKinley	Feb 14, 1853		N
President Franklin Pierce
John Campbell	McKinley	Mar 21, 1853	V	C	Mar 22, 1853
President James Buchanan
Nathan Clifford	Curtis	Dec 9, 1857	26-23	C	Jan 12, 1858
Jeremiah Black	Daniel	Feb 5, 1861	25-26	R	Feb 21, 1861
President Abraham Lincoln
Noah Swayne	McLean	Jan 21, 1862	38-1	C	Jan 24, 1862
Samuel Miller	Daniel	Jul 16, 1862	V	C	Jul 16, 1862
David Davis	Campbell	Dec 1, 1862	V	C	Dec 8, 1862
Stephen Field	(new seat)	Mar 6, 1863	V	C	Mar 10, 1863
Salmon Chase⁹	Taney	Dec 6, 1864	V	C	Dec 6, 1864
President Andrew Johnson
Henry Stanbery	Catron	Apr 16, 1866		N
President Ulysses Grant
Ebenezer Hoar	(new seat)	Dec 14, 1869	24-33	R	Feb 3, 1870
Edwin Stanton¹⁰	Grier	Dec 20, 1869	46-11	C	Dec 20, 1869
William Strong	Grier	Feb 7, 1870		C	Feb 18, 1870
Joseph Bradley	(new seat)	Feb 7, 1870	46-9	C	Mar 21, 1870
Ward Hunt	Nelson	Dec 3, 1872	V	C	Dec 11, 1872
George Williams¹¹	Chase	Dec 1, 1873		W	Jan 8, 1874
Caleb Cushing¹²	Chase	Jan 9, 1874		W	Jan 13, 1874
Morrison Waite¹³	Chase	Jan 19, 1874	63-0	C	Jan 21, 1874
President Rutherford Hayes
John Harlan	Davis	Oct 16, 1877	V	C	Nov 29, 1877
William Woods	Strong	Dec 15, 1880	39-8	C	Dec 21, 1880
Stanley Matthews	Swayne	Jan 26, 1881		N
President James Garfield
Stanley Matthews	Swayne	Mar 14, 1881	24-23	C	May 12, 1881
President Chester Arthur
Horace Gray	Clifford	Dec 19, 1881	51-5	C	Dec 20, 1881
Roscoe Conkling	Hunt	Feb 24, 1882	39-12	D	Mar 2, 1882
Samuel Blatchford	Hunt	Mar 13, 1882	V	C	Mar 22, 1882
President Grover Cleveland
Lucius Lamar	Woods	Dec 6, 1887	32-28	C	Jan 16, 1888
Melville Fuller¹⁴	Waite	Apr 30, 1888	41-20	C	Jul 20, 1888
President Benjamin Harrison
David Brewer	Matthews	Dec 4, 1889	53-11	C	Dec 18, 1889
Henry Brown	Miller	Dec 23, 1890	V	C	Dec 29, 1890
George Shiras, Jr.	Bradley	Jul 19, 1892	V	C	Jul 26, 1892
Howell Jackson	Lamar	Feb 2, 1893	V	C	Feb 18, 1893
President Grover Cleveland
William Hornblower	Blatchford	Sep 19, 1893		N
William Hornblower	Blatchford	Dec 5, 1893	24-30	R	Jan 15, 1894
Wheeler Peckham	Blatchford	Jan 22, 1894	32-41	R	Feb 16, 1894
Edward White	Blatchford	Feb 19, 1894	V	C	Feb 19, 1894
Rufus Peckham	Jackson	Dec 3, 1895	V	C	Dec 9, 1895
President William McKinley
Joseph McKenna	Field	Dec 16, 1897	V	C	Jan 21, 1898
President Theodore Roosevelt
Oliver Holmes	Gray	Dec 2, 1902	V	C	Dec 4, 1902
William Day	Shiras	Feb 19, 1903	V	C	Feb 23, 1903
William Moody	Brown	Dec 3, 1906	V	C	Dec 12, 1906
President William Taft
Horace Lurton	Peckham	Dec 13, 1909	V	C	Dec 20, 1909
Charles Hughes	Brewer	Apr 25, 1910	V	C	May 2, 1910
Edward White¹⁵	Fuller	Dec 12, 1910	V	C	Dec 12, 1910
Willis Van Devanter	White	Dec 12, 1910	V	C	Dec 15, 1910
Joseph Lamar	Moody	Dec 12, 1910	V	C	Dec 15, 1910
Mahlon Pitney	Harlan	Feb 19, 1912	50-26	C	Mar 13, 1912
President Woodrow Wilson
James McReynolds	Lurton	Aug 19, 1914	44-6	C	Aug 29, 1914
Louis Brandeis	Lamar	Jan 28, 1916	47-22	C	Jun 1, 1916
John Clarke	Hughes	Jul 14, 1916	V	C	Jul 24, 1916
President Warren Harding
William Taft¹⁶	White	Jun 30, 1921	V	C	Jun 30, 1921
George Sutherland	Clarke	Sep 5, 1922	V	C	Sep 5, 1922
Pierce Butler	Day	Nov 21, 1922		N
Pierce Butler	Day	Dec 5, 1922	61-8	C	Dec 21, 1922
Edward Sanford	Pitney	Jan 24, 1923	V	C	Jan 29, 1923
President Calvin Coolidge
Harlan Stone	McKenna	Jan 5, 1925	71-6	C	Feb 5, 1925
President Herbert Hoover
Charles Hughes¹⁷	Taft	Feb 3, 1930	52-26	C	Feb 13, 1930
John Parker	Sanford	Mar 21, 1930	39-41	R	May 7, 1930
Owen Roberts	Sanford	May 9, 1930	V	C	May 20, 1930
Benjamin Cardozo	Holmes	Feb 15, 1932	V	C	Feb 24, 1932
President Franklin Roosevelt
Hugo Black	Van Devanter	Aug 12, 1937	63-16	C	Aug 17, 1937
Stanley Reed	Sutherland	Jan 15, 1938	V	C	Jan 25, 1938
Felix Frankfurter	Cardozo	Jan 5, 1939	V	C	Jan 17, 1939
William Douglas	Brandeis	Mar 20, 1939	62-4	C	Apr 4, 1939
Frank Murphy	Butler	Jan 4, 1940	V	C	Jan 16, 1940
Harlan Stone¹⁸	Hughes	Jun 12, 1941	V	C	Jun 27, 1941
James Byrnes	McReynolds	Jun 12, 1941	V	C	Jun 12, 1941
Robert Jackson	Stone	Jun 12, 1941	V	C	Jul 7, 1941
Wiley Rutledge	Byrnes	Jan 11, 1943	V	C	Feb 8, 1943
President Harry Truman
Harold Burton	Roberts	Sep 19, 1945	V	C	Sep 19, 1945
Fred Vinson¹⁹	Stone	Jun 6, 1946	V	C	Jun 20, 1946
Tom Clark	Murphy	Aug 2, 1949	73-8	C	Aug 18, 1949
Sherman Minton	Rutledge	Sep 15, 1949	48-16	C	Oct 4, 1949
President Dwight Eisenhower
Earl Warren²⁰	Vinson	Jan 11, 1954	V	C	Mar 1, 1954
John Harlan	Jackson	Nov 9, 1954		N
John Harlan	Jackson	Jan 10, 1955	71-11	C	Mar 16, 1955
William Brennan, Jr.	Minton	Jan 14, 1957	V	C	Mar 19, 1957
Charles Whittaker	Reed	Mar 2, 1957	V	C	Mar 19, 1957
Potter Stewart	Burton	Jan 17, 1959	70-17	C	May 5, 1959
President John Kennedy
Byron White	Whittaker	Apr 3, 1962	V	C	Apr 11, 1962
Arthur Goldberg	Frankfurter	Aug 31, 1962	V	C	Sep 25, 1962
President Lyndon Johnson
Abe Fortas	Goldberg	Jul 28, 1965	V	C	Aug 11, 1965
Thurgood Marshall	Clark	Jun 13, 1967	69-11 No. 240	C	Aug 30, 1967
Abe Fortas²¹	Warren	Jun 26, 1968		W	Oct 4, 1968
Homer Thornberry	Fortas	Jun 26, 1968		N
President Richard Nixon
Warren Burger²²	Warren	May 23, 1969	74-3 No. 35	C	Jun 9, 1969
Clement Haynsworth, Jr.	Fortas	Aug 21, 1969	45-55 No. 154	R	Nov 21, 1969
G. Harrold Carswell	Fortas	Jan 19, 1970	45-51 No. 122	R	Apr 8, 1970
Harry Blackmun	Fortas	Apr 15, 1970	94-0 No. 143	C	May 12, 1970
Lewis Powell, Jr.	Black	Oct 22, 1971	89-1 No. 439	C	Dec 6, 1971
William Rehnquist	Harlan	Oct 22, 1971	68-26 No. 450	C	Dec 10, 1971
President Gerald Ford
John Paul Stevens	Douglas	Nov 28, 1975	98-0 No. 603	C	Dec 17, 1975
President Ronald Reagan
Sandra Day O'Connor	Stewart	Aug 19, 1981	99-0 No. 274	C	Sep 21, 1981
William Rehnquist²³	Burger	Jun 20, 1986	65-33 No. 266	C	Sep 17, 1986
Antonin Scalia	Rehnquist	Jun 24, 1986	98-0 No. 267	C	Sep 17, 1986
Robert Bork	Powell	Jul 1, 1987	42-58 No. 348	R	Oct 23, 1987
Anthony Kennedy	Powell	Nov 30, 1987	97-0 No. 16	C	Feb 3, 1988
President George H.W. Bush
David Souter	Brennan	Jul 25, 1990	90-9 No. 259	C	Oct 2, 1990
Clarence Thomas	Marshall	Jul 8, 1991	52-48 No. 220	C	Oct 15, 1991
President Bill Clinton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg	White	Jun 14, 1993	96-3 No. 232	C	Aug 3, 1993
Stephen Breyer	Blackmun	May 17, 1994	87-9 No. 242	C	Jul 29, 1994
President George W. Bush
John Roberts, Jr.	O'Connor	Jul 29, 2005		W	Sep 6, 2005
John Roberts, Jr.²⁴	Rehnquist	Sep 6, 2005	78-22 No. 245	C	Sep 29, 2005
Harriet Miers	O'Connor	Oct 7, 2005		W	Oct 28, 2005
Samuel Alito, Jr.	O'Connor	Nov 10, 2005	58-42 No. 2	C	Jan 31, 2006
President Barack Obama
Sonia Sotomayor	Souter	Jun 1, 2009	68-31 No. 262	C	Aug 6, 2009
Elena Kagan	Stevens	May 10, 2010	63-37 No. 229	C	Aug 5, 2010


This chart lists only nominations officially submitted to the Senate, and does not include nominations announced but never officially submitted (such as Douglas Ginsburg in 1987).

The date of the nomination is the date on the president’s letter to the Senate (except the undated 1937 Hugo Black letter). Some nominees may have been serving before this date under recess appointments.

Vote Key:	Result Key:
89-7 No. 242 (for example) - Tally and roll call vote number	C - Confirmed and served (117) ²⁵
V - Voice Vote	D - Declined (7)
	N - No Action (10)
	P - Postponed (3)
	R - Rejected (12)
	W - Withdrawn (11)

1. Nominated to chief justice.
2. Offered his services as a replacement for the soon-to-retire John Jay in June 1795, so President Washington offered him a temporary commission (Senate was in recess). The Senate convened in December and voted on the nomination, making Rutledge the first rejected Supreme Court nominee and the only "recess appointed" justice not to be subsequently confirmed by the Senate.
3. Sitting justice nominated to chief justice, but declined and continued to serve as an associate justice.
4. Nominated to chief justice.
5. Nominated to chief justice.
6. Nominated to chief justice.
7. Nominated to chief justice.
8. On motion to proceed to consider the nomination, an objection was made.
9. Nominated to chief justice.
10. Confirmed, but died before he took office.
11. Unsuccessful nominee for chief justice.
12. Unsuccessful nominee for chief justice.
13. Nominated to chief justice.
14. Nominated to chief justice.
15. Sitting justice elevated to chief justice.
16. Nominated to chief justice.
17. Nominated to chief justice.
18. Sitting justice elevated to chief justice.
19. Nominated to chief justice.
20. Nominated to chief justice.
21. Sitting justice nominated to chief justice; nomination filibustered and withdrawn.
22. Nominated to chief justice.
23. Sitting justice elevated to chief justice.
24. Nominated to chief justice.
25. 7 nominees (see D in Result Key) were confirmed, but declined to serve.
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