PREVIOUS CHIEF JUSTICES
John Jay
(Appointed by George Washington)
Oct. 19, 1789 - June 29, 1795
As a diplomat, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
John Rutledge
(Washington)
Aug. 12 - Dec. 15, 1795
A justice from the original Supreme Court, he served as chief justice of South Carolina's Supreme Court before briefly returning to the U.S. Supreme Court as chief justice.
Oliver Ellsworth
(Washington)
March 8, 1796 - Dec. 15, 1800
As a senator, he was chairman of the committee that established the federal court system.
John Marshall
(John Adams)
Feb. 4, 1801 - July 6, 1835
He was nominated while still serving as secretary of state and filled both positions for a time.
Roger Taney
(Andrew Jackson)
March 28, 1836 - Oct. 12, 1864
He failed to be confirmed as secretary of the treasury in 1834 and as an associate Supreme Court justice in 1835; the Senate confirmed him as chief justice in 1836.
Salmon Chase
(Abraham Lincoln)
Dec. 15, 1864 - May 7, 1873
The former senator and governor of Ohio served as treasury secretary during the Civil War.
Morrison Waite
(Ulysses S. Grant)
March 4, 1874 - March 23, 1888
He helped settle U.S. war claims against Britain for aiding the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Melville Fuller
(Grover Cleveland)
Oct. 8, 1888 - July 4, 1910
A Chicago attorney, he was politically active and served one term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
Edward Douglass White
(William Howard Taft)
Dec. 19, 1910 - May 19, 1921
He served as a senator before joining the Supreme Court and was the first active associate justice to be promoted to chief justice.
William Howard Taft
(Warren Harding)
July 11, 1921 - Feb. 3, 1930
The former U.S. president also taught constitutional law at Yale University
Charles Hughes
(Herbert Hoover)
Feb. 24, 1930 - June 30, 1941
He had served on the Supreme Court from 1910-16 before resigning to run for president against Woodrow Wilson.
Harlan Fiske Stone
(Franklin Roosevelt)
July 3, 1941 - April 22, 1946
He was dean of Columbia's Law School before serving on the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1925 and later as chief justice.
Fred Vinson
(Harry Truman)
June 24, 1946 - Sept. 8, 1953
He served several positions in the Roosevelt administration and later as treasury secretary under Truman.
Earl Warren
(Dwight Eisenhower)
Oct. 5, 1953 - June 23, 1969
A former governor of California, he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1952.
Warren Burger
( Richard Nixon)
June 23, 1969 - Sept. 26, 1986
He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., before becoming chief justice.
William Rehnquist
( Ronald Reagan)
Sept. 26, 1986 - Sept. 3, 2005
He served as an associate justice for 15 years before becoming chief justice.
Judge John Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the 17th chief justice of the United States on Thursday. Like some of his predecessors, Roberts is a relative newcomer to the bench, having become a judge in 2003 after spending most of his career as an attorney.
Source: Supreme Court Historical Society
Chicago Tribune |
