Unsuccessful Nominations To The Supreme Court of The United States

Unsuccessful Nominations To The Supreme Court Of The United States

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are nominated by the President and are then confirmed by the Senate. Presidential administrations are listed with any unsuccessful Supreme Court nominees—that is, individuals who were nominated and who either declined their own nomination, failed the confirmation vote in the Senate, or whose nomination was withdrawn by the president.

As of 2010, 151 people have been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Twenty-nine nominations (which includes one promotion) have been unsuccessful on at least the first try. Of those 29:

  • 12 were fully considered and formally rejected by the Senate.
  • 7 (including a nomination of an Associate Justice for Chief Justice) were withdrawn by the President before a formal consideration could be taken by the Senate.
    • One of these nominations was withdrawn because of the Ineligibility Clause, but was confirmed after its applicability was no longer an issue.
  • 5 had no action taken on them.
    • One of these was because of a change in the Presidency, but the nomination was resubmitted by the incoming President and confirmed.
  • 3 had formal votes on the nominations were postponed.
    • One of these nominations was reconsidered after a change in Senate composition and confirmed.
  • 2 had nominations nullified by other circumstances without being formally considered.

Read more about Unsuccessful Nominations To The Supreme Court Of The United States:  George Washington, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, John Tyler, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Table

Famous quotes containing the words united states, unsuccessful, supreme, court, united and/or states:

    In no other country in the world is the love of property keener or more alert than in the United States, and nowhere else does the majority display less inclination toward doctrines which in any way threaten the way property is owned.
    Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

    Historian—An unsuccessful novelist.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
    Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

    As to “Don Juan,” confess ... that it is the sublime of that there sort of writing; it may be bawdy, but is it not good English? It may be profligate, but is it not life, is it not the thing? Could any man have written it who has not lived in the world? and tooled in a post-chaise? in a hackney coach? in a Gondola? against a wall? in a court carriage? in a vis a vis? on a table? and under it?
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)

    All comes united to th’ admiring eyes;
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

    ... there is a place in the United States for the Negro. They are real American citizens, and at home. They have fought and bled and died, like men, to make this country what it is. And if they have got to suffer and die, and be lynched, and tortured, and burned at the stake, I say they are at home.
    Amanda Berry Smith (1837–1915)