List of Justices of the United States Supreme Court (President Gore)

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body and highest court in the United States. The membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom constitute a quorum. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution grants plenary power to the President of the United States to nominate, and with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court; justices have life tenure.

Background[]

The Supreme Court was established by Article III of the United States Constitution, which stipulates that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court," and was organized by the 1st United States Congress. Through the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress specified the Court's original and appellate jurisdiction, created thirteen judicial districts, and fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).

Since 1789, Congress has occasionally altered the size of the Supreme Court, historically in response to the country's own expansion in size. An 1801 act would have decreased the Court's size to five members upon its next vacancy. However, an 1802 act negated the effects of the 1801 act upon the Court before any such vacancy occurred, maintaining the Court's size at six members. Later legislation increased its size to seven members in 1807, to nine in 1837, and to ten in 1863. An 1866 act was to have reduced the Court's size from ten members to seven upon its next three vacancies, and two vacancies did occur during this period. However, before a third vacancy occurred, the Judiciary Act of 1869 intervened, restoring the Court's size to nine members, where it has remained ever since.

While the justices of the Supreme Court are appointed for life, many have retired or resigned. Beginning in the early 20th century, many justices who left the Court voluntarily did so by retiring from the Court without leaving the federal judiciary altogether. A retired justice, according to the United States Code, is no longer a member of the Supreme Court, but remains eligible to serve by designation as a judge of a U.S. Court of Appeals or District Court, and many retired justices have served in these capacities. Historically, the average length of service on the Court has been less than 15 years. However, since 1970 the average length of service has increased to about 26 years.

List of justices since Dwight D. Eisenhower[]

Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 116 individuals have served on the Court. The length of service on the Court for the 107 former justices ranges from William O. Douglas' 36 years, 209 days to John Rutledge's 1 year, 18 days as associate justice and, separated by a period of years off the Court, his 138 days as chief justice. Seven individuals, who were confirmed for associate justice, were later appointed chief justice separately: John Rutledge, Edward Douglass White, Charles Evans Hughes, Harlan F. Stone, William Rehnquist, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Robert L. Wilkins. While listed twice, each of them has been assigned only one index number. There have also been five African American justices, eight female justices, and two Hispanic justices; including one female Chief Justice and one African American Chief Justice. The justices of the Supreme Court since President Dwight D. Eisenhower are:

Justice		State	Position	Succeeded	Seat	Senate Confirmation Vote	Tenure	Tenure Length	Age At Start Date	Age At End Date (Or Current Date For Incumbents)	Prior Position	Appointed By
88	Earl Warren (1891-1974)	CA	Chief Justice	Vinson	Chief Justice	(Acclamation)	01953-10-05-0000October 5, 1953–01969-06-23-0000June 23, 1969 (Retired)	15 years, 261 days	62	78	30th Governor of California (1943-1953)	Dwight D. Eisenhower
89	John Marshall Harlan II (1899-1971)	NY	Associate Justice	R. Jackson	9th	71-11	01955-03-28-0000March 28, 1955–01971-09-23-0000September 23, 1971 (Retired)	16 years, 179 days	55	72	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1954-1955)
90	William J. Brennan Jr. (1906-1997)	NJ	Associate Justice	Minton	3rd	(Acclamation)	01956-10-16-0000October 16, 1956–01990-07-20-0000July 20, 1990 (Retired)	33 years, 277 days	50	84	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1951-1956)
91	Charles Evans Whittaker (1901-1973)	MO	Associate Justice	Reed	6th	(Acclamation)	01957-03-25-0000March 25, 1957–01962-03-31-0000March 31, 1962 (Retired)	5 years, 6 days	56	61	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1956-1957)
92	Potter Stewart (1915-1985)	OH	Associate Justice	Burton	8th	70-17	01958-10-14-0000October 14, 1958–01981-07-03-0000July 3, 1981 (Retired)	22 years, 262 days	43	66	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1954-1958)
93	Byron White (1917-2002)	CO	Associate Justice	Whittaker	6th	(Acclamation)	01962-04-16-0000April 16, 1962–01993-06-28-0000June 28, 1993 (Retired)	31 years, 73 days	44	76	4th United States Deputy Attorney General (1961-1962)	John F. Kennedy
94	Arthur Goldberg (1908-1990)	IL	Associate Justice	Frankfurter	2nd	(Acclamation)	01962-10-01-0000October 1, 1962–01965-07-25-0000July 25, 1965 (Resigned)	2 years, 297 days	54	56	9th United States Secretary of Labor (1961-1962)	John F. Kennedy
95	Abe Fortas (1910-1982)	TN	Associate Justice	Goldberg	2nd	(Acclamation)	01965-10-04-0000October 4, 1965–01969-05-14-0000May 14, 1969 (Resigned)	3 years, 222 days	55	58	United States Under Secretary of the Interior (1942-1943, 1944-1946)	Lyndon B. Johnson
96	Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993)	NY	Associate Justice	Clark	10th	69-11	01967-10-02-0000October 2, 1967–01991-10-01-0000October 1, 1991 (Retired)	23 years, 364 days	59	83	32nd Solicitor General of the United States (1965-1967)	Lyndon B. Johnson
97	Warren E. Burger (1907-1995)	VA	Chief Justice	Warren	Chief Justice	74-3	01969-06-23-0000June 23, 1969–01986-09-26-0000September 26, 1986 (Retired)	17 years, 95 days	61	79	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1956-1969)	Richard Nixon
98	Harry Blackmun (1908-1999)	MN	Associate Justice	Fortas	2nd	94-0	01970-06-09-0000June 9, 1970–01994-08-03-0000August 3, 1994 (Retired)	24 years, 55 days	61	85	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1959-1970)
99	Lewis F. Powell Jr. (1907-1998)	VA	Associate Justice	Black	1st	89-1	01972-01-07-0000January 7, 1972–01987-06-26-0000June 26, 1987(Retired)	15 years, 170 days	64	79	Chairman of Virginia State Board of Education (1968-1969)
100	William Rehnquist (1924-2005)	AZ	Associate Justice	J. M. Harlan II	9th	68-26	01972-01-07-0000January 7, 1972–01986-09-26-0000September 26, 1986 (Continued as Chief Justice)	14 years, 262 days	47	61	United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1969-1971)
101	John Paul Stevens (1920-2019)	IL	Associate Justice	Douglas	4th	98-0	01975-12-19-0000December 19, 1975–02001-06-29-0000June 29, 2001(Retired)	25 years, 192 days	55	81	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1970-1975)	Gerald Ford
102	Sandra Day O'Connor (1930-2023)	AZ	Associate Justice	Stewart	8th	99-0	01981-09-25-0000September 25, 1981-02009-06-30-0000June 30, 2009(Retired)	27 years, 278 days	51	79	Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (1979-1981)	Ronald Reagan
100	William Rehnquist (1924-2005)	VA	Chief Justice	Burger	Chief Justice	65-33	01986-09-26-0000September 26, 1986–02005-09-03-0000September 3, 2005(Died)	18 years, 342 days	61	80	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1972-1986)
103	Antonin Scalia (1936-2016)	VA	Associate Justice	Rehnquist	9th	98-0	01986-09-26-0000September 26, 1986–02016-02-13-0000February 13, 2016 (Died)	29 years, 140 days	50	79	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1982-1986)
104	Anthony Kennedy (b. 1936)	CA	Associate Justice	Powell	1st	97-0	01988-02-18-0000February 18, 1988–02010-06-30-0000June 30, 2010(Retired)	22 years, 132 days	51	73	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1975-1988)
105	David Souter (b. 1939)	NH	Associate Justice	Brennan	3rd	90-9	01990-10-09-0000October 9, 1990–02013-06-29-0000June 29, 2013 (Retired)	22 years, 263 days	51	73	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990)	George H. W. Bush
106	Clarence Thomas (b. 1948)	GA	Associate Justice	T. Marshall	10th	52-48	01991-10-23-0000October 23, 1991–Incumbent	33 years, 182 days	43	76	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1990-1991)	George H. W. Bush
107	Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)	NY	Associate Justice	B. White	6th	96-3	01993-08-10-0000August 10, 1993–02005-10-01-0000October 1, 2005 (Continued as Chief Justice)	12 years, 52 days	60	72	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1980-1993)	Bill Clinton
108	Stephen Breyer (b. 1938)	MA	Associate Justice	Blackmun	2nd	87-9	01994-08-03-0000August 3, 1994–02022-06-30-0000June 30, 2022 (Retired)	27 years, 331 days	55	83	Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990-1994)	Bill Clinton
109	Diane Wood (b. 1950)	IL	Associate Justice	Stevens	4th	61-35	02001-08-08-0000August 8, 2001–Incumbent	23 years, 258 days	51	74	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1995-2001)	Al Gore
107	Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020)	NY	Chief Justice	Rehnquist	Chief Justice	100-0	02005-10-01-0000October 1, 2005-02018-08-24-0000August 24, 2018(Retired)	12 years, 327 days	72	85	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1993-2005)
110	Sonia Sotomayor (b. 1954)	NY	Associate Justice	Ginsburg	6th	62-38	02005-10-01-0000October 1, 2005–Incumbent	19 years, 204 days	51	70	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1998-2005)
111	Consuelo Callahan (b. 1950)	CA	Associate Justice	O'Connor	8th	74-26	02009-08-07-0000August 7, 2009-Incumbent	15 years, 259 days	59	74	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2009)	John McCain
112	John Roberts (b. 1955)	MD	Associate Justice	Kennedy	1st	78-22	02010-06-30-0000June 30, 2010-Incumbent	14 years, 297 days	55	70	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2009-2010)	John McCain
113	Elena Kagan (b. 1960)	MA	Associate Justice	Souter	3rd	67-33	02013-08-10-0000August 10, 2013–Incumbent	11 years, 256 days	53	64	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (2006-2013)	Hillary Clinton
114	Robert L. Wilkins (b. 1963)	DC	Associate Justice	Scalia	9th	57-43	02016-06-27-0000June 27, 2016-02018-08-24-0000August 24, 2018 (Continued as Chief Justice)	2 years, 58 days	52	54	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2014-2016)
114	Robert L. Wilkins (b. 1963)	DC	Chief Justice	Ginsburg	Chief Justice	75-29	02018-08-24-0000August 24, 2018–Incumbent	6 years, 242 days	54	61	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (2016-2018)
115	Ketanji Brown Jackson (b. 1970)	DC	Associate Justice	Wilkins	9th	58-46	02018-08-24-0000August 24, 2018-Incumbent	6 years, 242 days	47	54	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2013-2018)
116	Leondra Kruger (b. 1976)	CA	Associate Justice	Breyer	2nd	67-35	02022-06-30-0000June 30, 2022–Incumbent	2 years, 297 days	45	48	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California (2015-2022)	Barack Obama