In order to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, an individual must be nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate, with at least half of that body approving in the affirmative. Generally, a justice's qualifications are judged by the President and, most visibly, by a Senate hearing. There is no definitive qualification of age or experience that is a standard to be met; instead is a much more subjective process taken by the Senate, occasionally resulting in a sometimes controversial defeat of Presidential nominees.
The following list consists of past Supreme Court Justices since 1789 placed in the order in which they took the judicial oath of office. Active Justice names are in bold.
Name |
State |
Associate Justice |
Appointed By |
Chief Justice |
James Wilson |
PA |
Oct 5, 1789 - Aug 21, 1798 |
Washington |
|
John Jay |
NY |
|
Washington |
Oct 19, 1789 - Jun 29, 1795 |
William Cushing |
MA |
Feb 2, 1790 - Sep 13, 1810 |
Washington |
|
John Blair |
VA |
Feb 2, 1790 - Oct 25, 1795 |
Washington |
|
John Rutledge |
SC |
Feb 15, 1790 - Mar 5, 1791 |
Washington |
|
James Iredell |
NC |
May 12, 1790 - Oct 20, 1799 |
Washington |
|
Thomas Johnson |
MD |
Aug 6, 1792 - Jan 16, 1793 |
Washington |
|
William Paterson |
NJ |
Mar 11, 1793 - Sep 9, 1806 |
Washington |
|
John Rutledge |
SC |
|
Washington |
Aug 12, 1795 - Dec 15, 1795 |
Samuel Chase |
MD |
Feb 4, 1796 - Jun 19, 1811 |
Washington |
|
Oliver Ellsworth |
CT |
|
Washington |
Mar 8, 1796 - Dec 15, 1800 |
Bushrod Washington |
VA |
Feb 4, 1799 - Nov 26, 1829 |
Adams |
|
Alfred Moore |
NC |
Apr 21, 1800 - Jan 26, 1804 |
Adams |
|
John Marshall |
VA |
|
Adams |
Feb 4, 1801 - Jul 6, 1835 |
William Johnson |
SC |
May 7, 1804 - Aug 4, 1834 |
Jefferson |
|
Henry Brockholst Livingston |
NY |
Jan 20, 1807 - Mar 18, 1823 |
Jefferson |
|
Thomas Todd |
KY |
May 4, 1807 - Feb 7, 1826 |
Jefferson |
|
Gabriel Duvall |
MD |
Nov 23, 1811 - Jan 14, 1835 |
Madison |
|
Joseph Story |
MA |
Feb 3, 1812 - Sep 10, 1845 |
Madison |
|
Smith Thompson |
NY |
Dec 9, 1823 - Dec 18, 1843 |
Monroe |
|
Robert Trimble |
KY |
Jun 16, 1826 - Aug 25, 1828 |
J. Q. Adams |
|
John McLean |
OH |
Jan 11, 1830 - Apr 4, 1861 |
Jackson |
|
Henry Baldwin |
PA |
Jan 18, 1830 - Apr 21, 1844 |
Jackson |
|
James Moore Wayne |
GA |
Jan 14, 1835 - Jul 5, 1867 |
Jackson |
|
Roger Brooke Taney |
MD |
|
Jackson |
Mar 28, 1836 - Oct 12, 1864 |
Philip Pendleton Barbour |
VA |
May 12, 1836 - Feb 25, 1841 |
Jackson |
|
John Catron |
TN |
May 1, 1837 - May 30, 1865 |
Van Buren |
|
John McKinley |
AL |
Jan 9, 1838 - Jul 19, 1852 |
Van Buren |
|
Peter Vivian Daniel |
VA |
Jan 10, 1842 - May 31, 1860 |
Van Buren |
|
Samuel Nelson |
NY |
Feb 27, 1845 - Nov 28, 1872 |
Tyler |
|
Levi Woodbury |
NH |
Sep 23, 1845 - Sep 4, 1851 |
Polk |
|
Robert Cooper Grier |
PA |
Aug 10, 1846 - Jan 31, 1870 |
Polk |
|
Benjamin Robbins Curtis |
MA |
Oct 10, 1851 - Sep 30, 1857 |
Fillmore |
|
John Archibald Campbell |
AL |
Apr 11, 1853 - Apr 30, 1861 |
Pierce |
|
Nathan Clifford |
ME |
Jan 21, 1858 - Jul 25, 1881 |
Buchanan |
|
Noah Haynes Swayne |
OH |
Jan 27, 1862 - Jan 24, 1881 |
Lincoln |
|
Samuel Freeman Miller |
IA |
Jul 21, 1862 - Oct 13, 1890 |
Lincoln |
|
David Davis |
IL |
Dec 10, 1862 - Mar 4, 1877 |
Lincoln |
|
Stephen Johnson Field |
CA |
May 20, 1863 - Dec 1, 1897 |
Lincoln |
|
Salmon Portland Chase |
OH |
|
Lincoln |
Dec 15, 1864 - May 7, 1873 |
William Strong |
PA |
Mar 15, 1870 - Dec 14, 1880 |
U. S. Grant |
|
Joseph Philo Bradley |
NJ |
Mar 23, 1870 - Jan 22, 1892 |
U. S. Grant |
|
Ward Hunt |
NY |
Jan 9, 1873 - Jan 27, 1882 |
U. S. Grant |
|
Morrison Remick Waite |
OH |
|
U. S. Grant |
Mar 4, 1874 - Mar 23, 1888 |
John Marshall Harlan |
KY |
Dec 10, 1877 - Oct 14, 1911 |
Hayes |
|
William Burnham Woods |
GA |
Jan 5, 1881 - May 14, 1887 |
Hayes |
|
Thomas Stanley Matthews |
OH |
May 17, 1881 - Mar 22, 1889 |
James Garfield |
|
Horace Gray |
MA |
Jan 9, 1882 - Sep 15, 1902 |
Arthur |
|
Samuel Blatchford |
NY |
Apr 3, 1882 - Jul 7, 1893 |
Arthur |
|
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar |
MS |
Jan 18, 1888 - Jan 23, 1893 |
Grover Cleveland |
|
Melville Weston Fuller |
IL |
|
Grover Cleveland |
Oct 8, 1888 - Jul 4, 1910 |
David Josiah Brewer |
KS |
Jan 6, 1890 - Mar 28, 1910 |
Harrison |
|
Henry Billings Brown |
MI |
Jan 5, 1891 - May 28, 1906 |
Harrison |
|
George Shiras, Jr |
PA |
Oct 10, 1892 - Feb 23, 1903 |
Harrison |
|
Howell Edmunds Jackson |
TN |
Mar 14, 1893 - Aug 8, 1895 |
Harrison |
|
Edward Douglass White |
LA |
Mar 12, 1894 - Dec 18, 1910 |
Cleveland |
|
Rufus Wheeler Peckham |
NY |
Jan 6, 1896 - Oct 24, 1909 |
Cleveland |
|
Joseph McKenna |
CA |
Jan 26, 1898 - Jan 5, 1925 |
McKinley |
|
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr |
MA |
Dec 8, 1902 - Jan 12, 1932 |
Roosevelt |
|
William Rufus Day |
OH |
Mar 2, 1903 - Nov 13, 1922 |
Roosevelt |
|
William Henry Moody |
MA |
Dec 17, 1906 - Nov 20, 1910 |
Roosevelt |
|
Horace Harmon Lurton |
TN |
Jan 3, 1910 - Jul 12, 1914 |
Taft |
|
Charles Evans Hughes |
NY |
Oct 10, 1910 - Jun 10, 1916 |
Taft |
|
Edward Douglass White |
LA |
|
Taft |
Dec 19, 1910 - May 19, 1921 |
Willis Van Devanter |
WY |
Jan 3, 1911 - Jun 2, 1937 |
Taft |
|
Joseph Rucker Lamar |
GA |
Jan 3, 1911 - Jan 2, 1916 |
Taft |
|
Mahlon Pitney |
NJ |
Mar 18, 1912 - Dec 31, 1922 |
Taft |
|
James Clark McReynolds |
TN |
Oct 12, 1914 - Jan 31, 1941 |
Wilson |
|
Louis Dembitz Brandeis |
MA |
Jun 5, 1916 - Feb 13, 1939 |
Wilson |
|
John Hessin Clarke |
OH |
Oct 9, 1916 - Sep 18, 1922 |
Wilson |
|
William Howard Taft |
OH |
|
Harding |
Jul 11, 1921 - Feb 3, 1930 |
George Sutherland |
UT |
Oct 2, 1922 - Jan 17, 1938 |
Harding |
|
Pierce Butler |
MN |
Jan 2, 1923 - Nov 16, 1939 |
Harding |
|
Edward Terry Sanford |
TN |
Feb 19, 1923 - Mar 8, 1930 |
Harding |
|
Harlan Fiske Stone |
NY |
Mar 2, 1925 - Jul 2, 1941 |
Coolidge |
|
Charles Evans Hughes |
NY |
|
Hoover |
Feb 24, 1930 - Jun 30, 1941 |
Owen Josephus Roberts |
PA |
Jun 2, 1930 - Jul 31, 1945 |
Hoover |
|
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo |
NY |
Mar 31, 1932 - Jul 9, 1938 |
Hoover |
|
Hugo LaFayette Black |
AL |
Aug 19, 1937 - Sep 17, 1971 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Stanley Forman Reed |
KY |
Jan 31, 1938 - Feb 25, 1957 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Felix Frankfurter |
MA |
Jan 30, 1939 - Aug 28, 1962 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
William Orville Douglas |
CT |
Apr 17, 1939 - Nov 12, 1975 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Francis William Murphy |
MI |
Feb 5, 1940 - Jul 19, 1949 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Harlan Fiske Stone |
NY |
|
F. D. Roosevelt |
Jul 3, 1941 - Apr 22, 1946 |
James Francis Byrnes |
SC |
Jul 8, 1941 - Oct 3, 1942 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Robert Houghwout Jackson |
NY |
Jul 11, 1941 - Oct 9, 1954 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Wiley Blount Rutledge |
IA |
Feb 15, 1943 - Sep 10, 1949 |
F. D. Roosevelt |
|
Harold Hitz Burton |
OH |
Oct 1, 1945 - Oct 13, 1958 |
Truman |
|
Frederick Moore Vinson |
KY |
|
Truman |
Jun 24, 1946 - Sep 8, 1953 |
Thomas Campbell Clark |
TX |
Aug 24, 1949 - Jun 12, 1967 |
Truman |
|
Sherman Minton |
IN |
Oct 12, 1949 - Oct 15, 1956 |
Truman |
|
Earl Warren |
CA |
|
Eisenhower |
Oct 5, 1953 - Jun 23, 1969 |
John Marshall Harlan II |
NY |
Mar 28, 1955 - Sep 23, 1971 |
Eisenhower |
|
William Joseph Brennan |
NJ |
Oct 16, 1956 - Jul 20, 1990 |
Eisenhower |
|
Charles Evans Whittaker |
MO |
Mar 25, 1957 - Mar 31, 1962 |
Eisenhower |
|
Potter Stewart |
OH |
Oct 14, 1958 - Jul 3, 1981 |
Eisenhower |
|
Byron Raymond White |
CO |
Apr 16, 1962 - Jun 28, 1993 |
Kennedy |
|
Arthur Joseph Goldberg |
IL |
Oct 1, 1962 - Jul 25, 1965 |
Kennedy |
|
Abe Fortas |
TN |
Oct 4, 1965 - May 14, 1969 |
Johnson |
|
Thurgood Marshall |
NY |
Oct 2, 1967 - Oct 1, 1991 |
Johnson |
|
Warren Earl Burger |
VA |
|
Nixon |
Jun 23, 1969 - Sep 26, 1986 |
Harry Andrew Blackmun |
MN |
Jun 9, 1970 - Aug 3, 1994 |
Nixon |
|
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr |
VA |
Jan 7, 1972 - Jun 26, 1987 |
Nixon |
|
William Hubbs Rehnquist |
AZ |
Jan 7, 1972 - Sep 26, 1986 |
Nixon |
|
John Paul Stevens |
IL |
Dec 19, 1975 |
Ford |
|
Sandra Day O'Connor |
AZ |
Sep 25, 1981 |
Reagan |
|
William Hubbs Rehnquist |
AZ |
|
Reagan |
Sep 26, 1986 - |
Antonin Scalia |
VA |
Sep 26, 1986 |
Reagan |
|
Anthony McLeod Kennedy |
CA |
Feb 18, 1988 |
Reagan |
|
David Hackett Souter |
NH |
Oct 9, 1990 |
G. H. W. Bush |
|
Clarence Thomas |
GA |
Oct 23, 1991 |
G. H. W. Bush |
|
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg |
NY |
Aug 10, 1993 |
Clinton |
|
Stephen Gerald Breyer |
MA |
Aug 3, 1994 |
Clinton |
|
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