Chief Justice - Some History

When I first heard Bush was now nominating John Roberts for Chief Justice, I thought it would be considered out of line to have a young outsider move into the Chief position. Looking over the data on the office at Wikipedia, showed me otherwise. Here are some historical facts on the office.

In 216 years, we have had 16 Chief Justices, or 15 if you exclude George Washington’s recess appointment of John Rutledge, who was rejected by the Senate after 4 months. The Chiefs have therefore served an average of 14 years, the equivalent of three and a half Presidential terms. Of the 43 Presidents, only 15 have appointed a Chief, with Washington being the only President to appoint more than one [three counting Rurledge].

Rehnquist was Chief for 18 years, but three Chiefs have served for longer terms, including Melville Fuller who served for 21 years until 1910, and John Marshall and Roger Taney, who served back to back for 34 and 28 years respectively. That 62 year [actually 63 when the extra months of both are added] span from 1801 to 1864, is offset at the short end by Washington’s three Chiefs serving for only 11 years total and by Chiefs Stone and Vinson who served from 1941 to 1953, just 12 years. Taney’s appointment in 1836 broke the “Catholic” barrier, though I believe Roberts, if approved, will only be the second Catholic Chief.

Like Rehnquist, most Chiefs die in office or shortly after leaving for health reasons. The exceptions are: John Jay, the first Chief, who was appointed at age 43 and only served 5 years, though he lived to age 83; Earl Warren, the conservative California Governor appointed by Ike, but who became a liberal leader of the Court before retiring after 15 years in 1969, and lived six years after retirement; and Warren Burger a conservative appointed by Nixon, who served 17 years as an ineffectual Court leader, before being pushed into retiring by Reagan in 1986, so a more effective conservative could replace him, that being Rehnquist.

Rehnquist served as an Associate Justice for 14 years before being elevated to Chief. Only two other Associates have ever been elevated to Chief, Edward White in 1910, and Harlan Stone in 1941. Some people had expected Justice Scalia to be elevated to Chief whenever the Rehnquist time ended, but Scalia is 69 years old. A healthy man of age 50, Roberts, if approved as Chief, has a life expectancy of at least 78 years, so he could equal the Taney term of 28 years, or possibly even challenge the Marshall record of 34 years.

If approved as Chief, Roberts, at 50, will serve as Chief with Justices Stevens 85, O’Connor (until replaced) 75, Ginsburg 72, Kennedy and Scalia, both 69, Breyer 67, Souter 65 and Thomas 57. The youngest Chief ever, John Marshall, was 45 when appointed, and served as Chief initially with five Associates [the Court having only six Justices back then], ages 67, 59, 55, 45 and 38. During his 34 years as Chief, Marshall’s Court established clearly the constitutional principle of judicial review, effectively insuring the Court would truly serve as one of the three branches of our government. To some back then, judicial review was considered unacceptable judicial activism, but now it is considered a sacred part of our constitutional framework.

I expect to watch the Roberts confirmation hearings in detail and to share some comments here later.