Unsuccessful nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States
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Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Sometimes the nominee is rejected by the Senate; sometimes the nominee withdraws under pressure; and sometimes the nominee declines the nomination.
As of 2005, 150 people have been officially nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate has rejected twelve, taken no action on five, and postponed votes on three. The President has withdrawn his nomination on seven occasions. Seven others have declined the nomination.
Presidential administrations are listed with any unsuccessful Supreme Court nominees — that is, nominees who either declined their own nomination or who were withdrawn by the president.
[edit] George Washington (2)
William Paterson was nominated for the Supreme Court on Feb 27, 1793. The nomination was withdrawn. The message was received by the Senate on Feb 28, 1793. Paterson was successfully renominated to the Court by George Washington on March 4, 1793.
The nomination of John Rutledge as Chief Justice was rejected by a vote of 10-14 on Dec 15, 1795. Rutledge's strident opposition to the Jay Treaty may have been the main reason for his rejection. Because he had been a recess appointment, Rutledge served as Chief Justice for one term.
[edit] James Madison (2)
When William Cushing died, Madison nominated Levi Lincoln, Sr. who declined the nomination.
Alexander Wolcott was then nominated but was rejected by a vote of 9-24 on Feb 13, 1811.
[edit] John Quincy Adams (1)
John J. Crittenden was nominated on Dec 18, 1828. The Senate postponed the vote on his confirmation, by a vote of 23-17, on Feb 12, 1829. The Senate did not explicitly vote to "postpone indefinitely", but the resolution did have that effect.
[edit] Andrew Jackson (1)
Roger B. Taney was nominated on January 15, 1835 to be an Associate Justice. A resolution was passed by a Senate vote of 24-21 on March 3, 1835 to postpone the nomination indefinitely. Later, after the political composition of the Senate changed, Taney was confirmed as Chief Justice.
[edit] John Tyler (8)
John C. Spencer was nominated on Jan 9, 1844 and his nomination was defeated by a vote of 21-26 on Jan 31, 1844.
Reuben H. Walworth was nominated on Mar 13, 1844, and a resolution to table the nomination passed on a 27-20 vote on June 15, 1844. The nomination was withdrawn from the Senate on Jun 17, 1844.
Edward King was nominated on Jun 5, 1844. A resolution to table the nomination passed by a vote of 29-18 on Jun 15, 1844. No other action was taken on this nomination.
John C. Spencer was again nominated on Jun 17, 1844, but there is no record of debate and the letter withdrawing the nomination was received on the same day.
Reuben H. Walworth was nominated again on Jun 17, 1844, but the motion to act on the nomination in the Senate was objected to, and no further action was taken.
Reuben H. Walworth was nominated again on Dec 10, 1844, but the nomination was tabled on Jan 21, 1845 and withdrawn on Feb 6, 1845.
Edward King was nominated again on Dec 10, 1844, but the nomination was tabled on Jan 21, 1845 and withdrawn on Feb 8, 1845.
John M. Read was nominated on Feb 8, 1845 and there was a motion to consider the nomination in the Senate on Jan 21, 1845, but the motion was unsuccessful and no other action was taken.
[edit] James K. Polk (2)
After Henry Baldwin's death, Polk nominated James Buchanan who declined the nomination.
Polk also nominated George W. Woodward to replace Henry Baldwin in 1845. The Senate rejected him by a vote of 20-29.
[edit] James Buchanan (1)
Buchanan nominated Jeremiah S. Black to the court in 1861. The Senate voted 25-26 against confirming him.
[edit] Andrew Johnson (1)
Two justices died in office during Johnson's administration, James Moore Wayne and John Catron. The United States Congress however passed the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, which provided for a gradual elimination of seats until only seven were left. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase had urged for this reduction in the hopes that it would result in an increase of the justices' salaries, which however did not happen until Congress restored the size of the court to nine members in 1871. Johnson had nominated Henry Stanberry to be an Associate Justice, but due to the reduction of seats this nomination was nullified.
[edit] Ulysses S. Grant (3)
Ulysses Grant nominated Ebenezer R. Hoar to a new seat on the court. The Senate rejected this nomination by a vote of 24-33.
Grant also nominated Edwin M. Stanton, former Attorney General and Secretary of War to the court. The nomination was eventually confirmed, but Stanton died before he was commissioned.
Grant nominated Caleb Cushing for Chief Justice in 1874, but in spite of Cushing's great learning and eminence at the bar, his anti-war record and the feeling of distrust experienced by many members of the U.S. Senate on account of his inconsistency, aroused such vigorous opposition that his nomination was withdrawn on January 13, 1874.
[edit] Grover Cleveland (2)
In Grover Cleveland's second term, Associate Justice Samuel Blatchford died. This seat was traditionally held by a New Yorker. By the long tradition of Senatorial courtesy, other Senators deferred to the nominee's home state senator when evaluating his nomination. The Senator from New York at the time was David B. Hill, a political rival of Cleveland's. Hill had lost the Democratic nomination for the President to Cleveland in 1892. Cleveland's first two nominees were not confirmed by the Senate. The nomination of William Hornblower from New York was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 24-30 on January 15, 1894. Cleveland's follow up nominee Wheeler Hazard Peckham, another New Yorker, was also rejected by the Senate, 32-41, on February 16, 1894. Cleveland finally got around Hill by nominating a sitting Senator, Edward Douglass White of Louisiana, to the court. His nomination was approved.
[edit] Herbert Hoover (1)
On May 7, 1930, John J. Parker's nomination for the Supreme Court was rejected by a vote of 39-41.
[edit] Lyndon Johnson (1)
Johnson nominated Abe Fortas for Chief Justice. Fortas was, at the time, an associate justice. Controversy ensued regarding Fortas's extrajudicial activities, and at Fortas's request, Johnson withdrew the nomination prior to a vote of the full Senate. Earl Warren continued to serve as Chief Justice through the 1968 election. The succeeding President, Nixon, nominated Warren Burger, who was promptly confirmed.
When Johnson nominated Fortas, he also nominated Homer Thornberry to fill Fortas' seat. Since Fortas withdrew his name from the Chief Justice nomination, but maintained his seat as an Associate Justice (with Earl Warren continuing as Chief Justice), the nomination of Thornberry was moot. He was never voted on by the Senate.
[edit] Richard Nixon (2)
When Abe Fortas resigned in 1969 (because of a scandal separate from his Chief Justice bid), Nixon nominated Clement Haynsworth, a Southern jurist. His nomination was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 45-55 on November 21, 1969.
In response, Nixon nominated G. Harrold Carswell, a Southerner with a history of supporting segregation. The Senate rejected his nomination 45 to 51 on April 8, 1970.
Nixon finally nominated Harry Blackmun for the Fortas vacancy, and Blackmun was confirmed by the Senate with no opposition on 17 May 1970.
Nixon was soon faced with two more Supreme Court vacancies when John Harlan and Hugo Black retired. Nixon considered nominating Arkansas lawyer Hershel Friday and California intermediate appellate judge Mildred Lillie to the high court. By tradition at the time, potential Supreme Court nominees were first disclosed to the American Bar Association's standing committee on the federal judiciary. When it became apparent that this twelve member committee would find that both were unqualified, Nixon passed over Friday and Lillie for Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist.
[edit] Ronald Reagan (2)
When Lewis Powell retired in July 1987, Reagan nominated Robert Bork. Bork was a member of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia at the time. Bork lost confirmation by a Senate vote of 42 to 58, largely because Bork had written about his views on many controversial constitutional issues, but perhaps also because of his role in the Saturday Night Massacre. Because his position as an originalist and a conservative was well-known, many interest groups moved to block his nomination.
Reagan then announced his intention to nominate Douglas H. Ginsburg to the court. Before Ginsburg could be officially nominated, he withdrew himself from consideration under heavy pressure after revealing that he had smoked marijuana with his students while a professor at Harvard Law School. (Contemporary humor had Ginsburg's nomination "going up in smoke", with Bork's having "gone down in flames" earlier.) Reagan then nominated Anthony Kennedy, who was confirmed by a Senate vote of 97-0.
[edit] George W. Bush (1)
Bush nominated John Roberts as an Associate Justice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist on September 3, 2005, this nomination was withdrawn and a new nomination, of Roberts as Chief Justice, was made. He was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 78 to 22.
There was still an appointment to be made for a replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor, and on October 3, 2005 Bush nominated Harriet Miers, a corporate attorney from Texas who had served as Bush's private attorney and as White House Counsel. Miers was widely perceived as unqualified for the position — she had never served as a judge — and lacked a clear record on controversial issues. The nomination was immediately attacked by politicians and commentators from across the political spectrum. At Miers' request, Bush withdrew her nomination on October 27, ostensibly to avoid violating executive privilege by disclosing details of her work at the White House. See Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination for further details. Four days later, Bush nominated Samuel Alito to the seat. Alito was confirmed by a vote of 58-42 on January 31, 2006.
[edit] References
- Table of Supreme Court Nominations, from the Senate Judicial Committee
- Supreme Court Nominations Not Confirmed, 1789-2004
- Supreme Court Official Nominations
