Every Supreme Court seat, 1789 to today

Each row is a seat. Bars are justices' tenures; hatched gaps are vacancies, from the day one justice left to the day the next took the oath. Rows start and end where Congress created or abolished a seat. Drag the date to see the Court on any day.

Skip past the timeline

Seated Seats

Ctrl + scroll or pinch to zoom · drag the date to scrub

Two appointments

John Rutledge

Born September 18, 1739, Charleston, SC
Died June 21, 1800

Chief Justice

Served: August 12, 1795 – December 15, 1795 (4 months, 3 days)
Appointed by: George Washington (No party)
Left the seat: Rejected by the Senate
Seat: Chief Justice
Predecessor: John Jay
Successor: Oliver Ellsworth

Appointment record

July 1, 1795 Recess appointment
December 10, 1795 Nominated
December 15, 1795 Rejected by the Senate (10–14)
August 12, 1795 Judicial oath

Sources differ. The Supreme Court's list gives December 15, 1795; the Federal Judicial Center gives December 28, 1795. This site follows the Court. The Court ends his service when the Senate rejected him (Dec 15, 1795); FJC uses his resignation letter (Dec 28).

Associate Justice, Seat 2

Served: February 15, 1790 – March 5, 1791 (1 year)
Appointed by: George Washington (No party)
Left the seat: Resigned
Seat: Associate Seat 2 · new seat, 1 Stat. 73
Predecessor: None (first in this seat)
Successor: Thomas Johnson

Appointment record

September 24, 1789 Nominated
September 26, 1789 Confirmed (voice vote)
September 26, 1789 Commissioned
February 15, 1790 Judicial oath The Court's list takes this date from the minutes of another court.
March 5, 1791 Resigned