List of federal judges appointed by George Washington explained

United States President George Washington appointed 39 Article III United States federal judges during his presidency,[1] which lasted from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. The first group of Washington's appointments—two justices of the Supreme Court of the United States and ten district court judges—began service two days after Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which formally established the federal judiciary.[2] Washington's last court appointee received his commission twelve days before the end of Washington's presidency.

As the first president, Washington was responsible for appointing the entire Supreme Court; he appointed a record eleven justices, including two Chief Justices and who were confirmed from outside the Court and one former Justice named as Chief Justice by a recess appointment, but not ultimately confirmed to the position. Additionally, Washington nominated Robert H. Harrison, who declined to serve,[3] [4] and nominated William Cushing for elevation to Chief Justice,[5] who likewise declined.

Since there were no sitting justices at the beginning of Washington's term, he had the unique opportunity to fill the entire body of United States federal judges with his selections. Despite this, Washington appointed only 28 judges to the United States district courts, due to the smaller size of the judiciary at the time; there were far fewer states, most states had a single district court, and each district had a single judge assigned to it. Because intermediate federal appellate courts had not yet been established, this, combined with the Supreme Court appointments, constituted the total number of federal judicial appointments made by Washington. The number is roughly 10% of the record 376 judges appointed by Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, when the judiciary was much larger,[6] and less than 5% of the number of active federal judges serving as of July 2010.[7] Richard Peters Jr. served for over 36 years, the longest of Washington's appointments.

Washington appointed a small number of Article IV territorial judges. He appointed Samuel Holden Parsons, John Cleves Symmes, George Turner and Rufus Putnam to the court of the Northwest Territory, Putnam being appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Parsons. He appointed David Campbell, John McNairy and Joseph Anderson to the court of the Southwest Territory. After the Southwest Territory was admitted to the union as the State of Tennessee, McNairy would go on to serve as its first United States District Judge.

As no Article I legislative courts existed during Washington's administration, he made no judicial appointments under Article I. The first court created under Article I, the United States Court of Claims, would not be established until 1855, under the administration of President Franklin Pierce.

Additionally, the District of Columbia judiciary would not exist until the passage of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 under President John Adams.

United States Supreme Court justices

JusticeSeatStateFormer justiceNomination
date		Confirmation
date		Began
active service		Ended
active service
New York
South Carolina[8]
South Carolina
Massachusetts[9]
Pennsylvania
Virginia
North Carolina
Maryland[10]
New Jersey[11] [12]
Maryland
Connecticut

District courts

JudgeCourt
[13] 		Nomination
date		Confirmation
date		Began active
service		Ended active
service
[14]
[15]
[16] [17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]

Notes

  1. Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, passim.
  2. Web site: The Judiciary Act of 1789. September 24, 1789. U.S. Congress. 2009-04-03.
  3. Web site: To Robert Hanson Harrison. Washington. George. September 28, 1789. Washington, George, 1732-1799. The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 2009-04-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110220191714/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=WasFi30.xml&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=354&division=div1#n0454-608. February 20, 2011.
  4. Web site: To Robert Hanson Harrison. Washington. George. November 25, 1789. Washington, George, 1732-1799. The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 2009-04-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110220192758/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=WasFi30.xml&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=406&division=div1. February 20, 2011.
  5. Marcus & Perry, p. 103.
  6. The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges lists 358 judges appointed by President Reagan, with reappointments and elevations bringing the number to 376.
  7. The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges lists close to 800 judges in active status, with nearly to 500 more in senior status.
  8. Unusually, Rutledge served two different terms on the Supreme Court. He was first appointed as an Associate Justice in 1789, resigning from that position in 1791. He became Chief Justice via a recess appointment in 1795, and was formally nominated on December 10, 1795. His nomination was thereafter rejected by the Senate in December 1795, and he resigned shortly after.
  9. Died in office.
  10. [Recess appointment]
  11. Paterson was initially nominated on February 27, 1793, but the nomination was immediately withdrawn by the President for technical reasons, the message being received by the Senate on Feb 28, 1793. Paterson was successfully renominated four days later.
  12. Marcus & Perry, p. 89-90.
  13. See List of United States district and territorial courts
  14. Elevated.
  15. [Recess appointment]
  16. [Recess appointment]
  17. On February 13, 1801, the District of New Jersey was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the Western District of New Jersey. Morris was reassigned to be the sole judge for both courts by operation of law. The Districts were reunited on July 1, 1802, and Morris was again reassigned by operation of law to be the sole judge for the reconstituted District of New Jersey, until his death on June 2, 1815.
  18. On June 9, 1794, the District of North Carolina was subdivided into the Edenton, New Bern, and Wilmington Districts of North Carolina; on March 3, 1797, the single District of North Carolina was reconstituted; and on February 13, 1801, the District was subdivided into the Albemarle, Cape Fear, and Pamptico Districts of North Carolina. In each instance, Sitgreaves was reassigned by operation of law to serve as the sole federal judge for the subdivided or reconstituted District, and he remained the sole federal judge serving the state of North Carolina until his death on March 4, 1802.
  19. On April 20, 1818, the District of Pennsylvania was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; Peters was assigned by operation of law to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and continued in that office until his death on August 22, 1828.
  20. [Recess appointment]
  21. [Recess appointment]
  22. [Recess appointment]
  23. On April 29, 1802, the District of Tennessee was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; McNairy was assigned to both districts by operation of law, and continued to be the sole federal judge serving the state of Tennessee until his resignation on September 1, 1833.
Renominations
  1. Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, passim.
  2. Web site: The Judiciary Act of 1789. September 24, 1789. U.S. Congress. 2009-04-03.
  3. Web site: To Robert Hanson Harrison. Washington. George. September 28, 1789. Washington, George, 1732-1799. The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 2009-04-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110220191714/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=WasFi30.xml&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=354&division=div1#n0454-608. February 20, 2011.
  4. Web site: To Robert Hanson Harrison. Washington. George. November 25, 1789. Washington, George, 1732-1799. The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. 2009-04-04. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110220192758/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=WasFi30.xml&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=406&division=div1. February 20, 2011.
  5. Marcus & Perry, p. 103.
  6. The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges lists 358 judges appointed by President Reagan, with reappointments and elevations bringing the number to 376.
  7. The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges lists close to 800 judges in active status, with nearly to 500 more in senior status.
  8. Unusually, Rutledge served two different terms on the Supreme Court. He was first appointed as an Associate Justice in 1789, resigning from that position in 1791. He became Chief Justice via a recess appointment in 1795, and was formally nominated on December 10, 1795. His nomination was thereafter rejected by the Senate in December 1795, and he resigned shortly after.
  9. Died in office.
  10. [Recess appointment]
  11. Paterson was initially nominated on February 27, 1793, but the nomination was immediately withdrawn by the President for technical reasons, the message being received by the Senate on Feb 28, 1793. Paterson was successfully renominated four days later.
  12. Marcus & Perry, p. 89-90.
  13. See List of United States district and territorial courts
  14. Elevated.
  15. [Recess appointment]
  16. [Recess appointment]
  17. On February 13, 1801, the District of New Jersey was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the Western District of New Jersey. Morris was reassigned to be the sole judge for both courts by operation of law. The Districts were reunited on July 1, 1802, and Morris was again reassigned by operation of law to be the sole judge for the reconstituted District of New Jersey, until his death on June 2, 1815.
  18. On June 9, 1794, the District of North Carolina was subdivided into the Edenton, New Bern, and Wilmington Districts of North Carolina; on March 3, 1797, the single District of North Carolina was reconstituted; and on February 13, 1801, the District was subdivided into the Albemarle, Cape Fear, and Pamptico Districts of North Carolina. In each instance, Sitgreaves was reassigned by operation of law to serve as the sole federal judge for the subdivided or reconstituted District, and he remained the sole federal judge serving the state of North Carolina until his death on March 4, 1802.
  19. On April 20, 1818, the District of Pennsylvania was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; Peters was assigned by operation of law to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and continued in that office until his death on August 22, 1828.
  20. [Recess appointment]
  21. [Recess appointment]
  22. [Recess appointment]
  23. On April 29, 1802, the District of Tennessee was subdivided into the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee; McNairy was assigned to both districts by operation of law, and continued to be the sole federal judge serving the state of Tennessee until his resignation on September 1, 1833.

References

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