Chief Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court From 1789 to the Present Day
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This article is for all United States history and politics buffs. It is the complete list of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justices from its formation to the present. Most Justices have served an average of 16 years. This list was originally published on the ListJar Facebook page on December 7th, 2017.
1) John Jay
The very first Chief Supreme Court Justice was John Jay. He served from September 26th, 1789, to June 29th, 1795. When he resigned, he had served for a total of five years and 276 days. John Jay was a famous and influential politician, patriot, and diplomat in early American history. He was a Founding Father of the United States, served as New York's second governor, and was pivotal in United States foreign policy. He only had to hear four cases during his service as Chief Supreme Court Justice. Although he lent towards abolitionist tendencies and passed gradual emancipation legislation as governor, he still had five slaves as late as 1800. John Jay had the option to serve as chief justice for another term, but declined and retired to his farm.
ON AMAZON (#ad): John Jay: Founding Father
ON AMAZON (#ad): The First Chief Justice
2) John Rutledge
The next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Rutledge, also resigned. He served from June 30th, 1795, to December 28th, 1795, for a short duration of 181 days. Rutledge was an American Founding Father, jurist, and politician. Although he was not the first chief justice, he was one of the inaugural associate justices of the Supreme Court in 1789. During his lifetime, he was the first president of South Carolina under the Articles of Confederation and its first governor under the new federal government. In 1791, John Rutledge left the Supreme Court to serve as the chief justice of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas and Sessions. He only returned after John Jay's resignation to become the second chief justice after being nominated by President Washington via a recess appointment. Rutledge served the shortest period of any chief justice and left politics behind.
ON AMAZON (#ad): John and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina
3) Oliver Ellsworth
From March 8th, 1796, to December 15th, 1800, Oliver Ellsworth served as the third Supreme Court Chief Justice for a total of four years and 282 days. He was a Founding Father, attorney, and jurist. During his career, he also served as the United States Connecticut senator and ran for president in the 1796 election. The Senate unanimously confirmed him as the third chief justice, but his court only saw a few cases. He worked for as long as he felt able and resigned in 1800 because of failing health.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Founding Federalist: The Life of Oliver Ellsworth
4) John Marshall
John Marshall was the fourth Supreme Court Chief Justice and the first to die still serving. He served from February 4th, 1801, to July 6th, 1835, for a total of 34 years and 152 days. To this day, John Marshall is the longest-serving chief justice and the fourth-longest-serving associate justice in United States history. He was hugely influential and set a lot of precedents during his service. He is also one of the rare politicians to have served on the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Under John Marshall's influence, the Supreme Court stopped prioritizing seriatim opinions and began issuing a single majority opinion with a straightforward ruling. In 1803, in Marbury v. Madison, Marshall's court set another lasting precedent by maintaining the separation of powers between federal branches and setting the judicial branch aside as an independent branch with equal power to the others.
ON AMAZON (#ad): John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court
ON AMAZON (#ad): Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times
5) Roger B. Taney
One of the most infamous Supreme Court Chief Justices is Roger B. Taney. He served from March 28th, 1836, to October 12th, 1864, for a total of 28 years and 198 days. He died in office. Taney is so loathed because he delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, where the court ruled that African Americans would not be considered American citizens and that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery in U.S. territories. Taney personally emancipated his slaves, but he strongly supported slavery as an institution in America and was supportive of the secession of Southern states. He did everything in his power to uphold slavery in America.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Roger B Taney Jacksonian Jurist
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Unjust Judge: Roger B. Taney
6) Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Chase was nominated by President Lincoln and served from December 15th, 1864, to May 7th, 1873. He died in office after serving for eight years and 152 days. Like John Marshall, he is one of the rare politicians to serve in all three federal branches of government. He most famously ruled over the trial of President Andrew Johnson during his 1868 impeachment. Despite serving on the Supreme Court, Chase desperately wanted a presidential nomination but never got it.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Salmon P. Chase: Lincoln's Vital Rival
ON AMAZON (#ad): Salmon P. Chase: A Biography
7) Morrison Waite
As the seventh Supreme Court Chief Justice, Morrison Waite served from March 4th, 1874, to March 23rd, 1888, and died in office after 14 years and 19 days. During his time as chief justice, he tried to balance federal and state power. One of his most lasting decisions was to establish the legal idea of corporate personhood. He and most other associate justices also narrowly interpreted the Reconstruction Amendments. Waite's most controversial and harmful decisions were to side with most justices against the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which was trying to ban discrimination in public service access.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Morrison R. Waite: The Triumph of Character
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Supreme Court under Morrison R. Waite, 1874-1888
8) Melville Fuller
Melville Fuller was a very active Supreme Court Chief Justice and served from October 8th, 1888, to July 4th, 1910. Like many of his peers, he died in office. He served for 21 years and 269 days. Fuller promoted very conservative rulings, supported unregulated free enterprise, and opposed federal power. Many of his decisions on racial segregation and the liberty of contract garnered criticism later and are now overruled.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Melville Weston Fuller
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Chief Justiceship of Melville W. Fuller, 1888–1910
9) Edward Douglass White Jr.
Edward White Jr. served from December 19th, 1910, to May 19th, 1921, and died after ten years and 151 days of service as Chief Justice. In total, he served as Supreme Court justice for 27 years. Appointed by President Cleveland and elevated by President Taft, he is most famous for the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law. His elevation to Supreme Court Justice was very surprising to many politicians because President Taft was a member of the opposite party. He also sided with the Supreme Court majority in Plessy v. Ferguson, upholding state segregation's legality.
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Supreme Court Under Edward Douglass White, 1910-1921
10) William Howard Taft
William Taft is the only person to serve as President of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He served from July 11th, 1921, to February 3rd, 1930, and retired after eight years and 207 days. Although he retired and did not die in office, he passed away only a month after. President Harding appointed Taft several years after he lost reelection to President Wilson. At the time, Taft was working at Yale as a professor and was supporting anti-war movements with the League to Enforce Peace. He went back to federal government service because he had long coveted the office of chief justice. In general, Taft supported progressive individual rights but was conservative in economics.
ON AMAZON (#ad): William Howard Taft: The American Presidents Series
ON AMAZON (#ad): William Howard Taft: Confident Peacemaker
11) Charles Evans Hughes Sr.
From February 24th, 1930, to June 30th, 1941, Charles Hughes Sr. served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He retired from office after 11 years and 126 days. In 1910, President Taft nominated him as Associate Justice, where he served until 1916 to run for president as the Republican nominee. President Woodrow Wilson won a very narrow and shocking victory against him. Charles Hughes Sr. served as Secretary of State under President Harding, left in 1925 to become a wildly successful attorney, and was later appointed in 1930 by President Hoover to Supreme Court Chief Justice. As chief justice, Hughes Sr. had a lot of influence as a swing vote between the liberal Three Musketeers and the conservative Four Horsemen.
ON AMAZON (#ad): The First Modern Clash over Federal Power
ON AMAZON (#ad): Charles Evans Hughes: Politics and reform
12) Harlan F. Stone
Harlan Stone served from July 3rd, 1941, to April 22nd, 1946. He died in office after four years and 293 days as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Stone was an associate justice from 1925 to 1941, which means he had quite a long tenure. Nominated by President Coolidge as associate justice, Stone was part of the liberal voting block called the Three Musketeers, who supported the New Deal overall. He was elevated to Chief Justice by President Roosevelt. Stone had several key decisions during World War II. In Korematsu v. United States, he ruled the exclusion of Japanese Americans into internment camps was constitutional. While he had a lengthy service on the Supreme Court, he had one of the shortest terms as Chief Justice and was the first Chief Justice not to serve in elected office.
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Stone Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy
13) Fred M. Vinson
Fred Vinson served from June 24th, 1946, to September 8th, 1953, and died in office after seven years and 76 days as Chief Justice. He is the third Chief Justice on this list to have served in all three U.S. government branches. President Truman appointed him, and as of 2023, he is the last Chief Justice to be appointed by a Democratic President.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of Kentucky
14) Earl Warren
Earl Warren was one of the most influential Chief Justices. He served from October 5th, 1953, to June 23rd, 1969, and retired after 15 years and 261 days. Under his leadership, the Supreme Court had a major shift in judicial rulings that many call the "Constitutional Revolution." Chief Justice Warren wrote the majority opinion in massively influential cases like Brown v. Board of Education, Reynolds v. Sims, Miranda v. Arizona, and Loving v. Virginia. Many of his rulings helped end several segregationist Jim Crow laws. His Supreme Court also helped lead to the decline of McCarthyism. Earl Warren was also the last chief justice to serve in elected office before serving on the Supreme Court. He is the only Supreme Court Chief Justice to lead a presidential commission into an assassination, as he led the Warren Commission to investigate President John F. Kennedy's murder. Overall, his Supreme Court's rulings have been criticized but are generally well-supported.
ON AMAZON (#ad): Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made
ON AMAZON (#ad): CHIEF JUSTICE: A Biography of Earl Warren
15) Warren E. Burger
From June 23rd, 1969, to September 26th, 1986, Warren Burger served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He retired after 17 years and 95 days. President Nixon nominated Burger in 1969 and worked on improving the federal judiciary and establishing the National Center for State Courts and the Supreme Court Historical Society. Burger wrote the unanimous court opinion in United States v. Nixon and rejected Nixon's attempt to use executive privilege to excuse Watergate. He also joined the majority of justices in Roe v. Wade, which ruled that individuals had a right to privacy over the state's right to ban abortions. Although nominated by President Nixon, the Burger Court delivered some of the most liberal decisions on political issues to this day.
ON AMAZON (#ad): With Sweet Majesty, Warren E. Burger
16) William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist served a total of 33 years on the Supreme Court. From September 26th, 1986, to September 3rd, 2005, he served as Chief Justice and died in office. In total, as Chief Justice, he served 18 years and 342 days. Rehnquist was a loyal conservative who believed firmly in states having great power. President Nixon appointed him, and his confirmation hearings criticized him for allegedly being against the Supreme Court's anti-segregationist decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Rehnquist is the fourth-longest-serving chief justice and the eighth-longest-serving justice so far. Although extremely conservative, he was an intellectual and social influence, and many justices who disagreed with him respected him. He opposed the majority decision in Roe v. Wade and formed a conservative block with Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Supreme Court
17) John Roberts
Currently serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, President Bush appointed John Roberts on September 29th, 2005. Roberts has been the majority author of quite a few influential cases, like Shelby County v. Holder and Riley v. California. Overall, he has a conservative judicial philosophy and is a strong institutionalist. Unlike other justices, he has swung over to the Supreme Court's liberal voting block in the past. However, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh has recently been the swing vote after Associate Justice Amy Coney Barret's nomination.
ON AMAZON (#ad): The Chief