William Cushing - Supreme Court Appointment

Supreme Court Appointment

When George Washington became President of the United States, Cushing was among Washington's first choices for Supreme Court justices. He was nominated on September 24, 1789, and confirmed by the Senate two days later. Although Cushing became Washington's longest serving Supreme Court appointment, only 19 of his decisions appear in the case reporters, mainly due to frequent travels and failing health, as well as the incompleteness of the case reports of the era. He generally held a nationalist view typically in line with the views of the Federalist Party, and often disagreed with Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans. His two most important decisions were probably Chisholm v. Georgia and Ware v. Hylton, which regarded intrastate suits and the supremacy of treaties.

Cushing administered the oath of office at Washington's second inauguration as president.