Show AN I 1 hew ew chief h ef justice i dp r 5 talle 5 ri 63 aw logo LIP A n n 41 W S 0 01 1 at X A out ME 1 1 fal 1 11 eize X V A n g a d V X dy by C ELMO SC SCOTT UK recent installation of charles evans hes aschley aa chief justice of tile the united states supreme court sue succeeding william howard taft who resigned on account of illness has added smother chapter to the inter eating history ot of that high tribunal although the he presidency to Is th the ehigh highest office in the land in some respects aspects it Is more of a distinction to be a chief justice than it Is to be president during the year of the existence of tills nation we have had 31 presidents mr Is 4 only the eleventh chief justice so a part of the distinction in holding that office lies in the fact that in the ordinary course of events only it a limited number of Amerl americans cans ean can ever gain that lionor honor N involved la in th the 0 recent change esome interesting historic firsts and historic parallels the previous chief justice william howard taft was the first american to have served both ng an Pros president Ident and na as chief justice lie ile was president to 1012 and chief justice from 1021 to 1030 the now new chief justice charles evans la Is the first american Ameri cun to have served as aa nn an associate justice ot of the supreme court to have retired front from that position by resignation and then to have returned to lo the tha court aschley as chief justice two associate justices have been elevated to the position of chief just justice icat while members of tile the sitting bencil bench john in 1705 end and adwin D white in 1010 mr hughea hes also shares ahafea with john Marslin ll tho the distinction of being the only americana who have servel served in the important post of secretary ecret ary of state as aa well as aa cliplef justice marshall marhall served as secretary of state under john adams nod and hushes hold tile the same position in nar Ilar dInKa dIngs cabinet three other chief justices have served in other cabanet posts roger 13 taney was secretary of the treasury and attorney general in president andrew jack jacksons ons cabinet salmon I 1 P chase was secretary of the treasury for lincoln and william howard taft wua was secretary of war for noose volt chief justice tafts nine year term of service Is less leas than the average term of a chief justice which hns has been fourteen years the longest term was that of john Al marshall arshall who prest presided dod over tho the supreme court for 34 S 1 years tho the second longest was taneyo with a record of 28 years the shortest term was waa that of john who served less than six BS months in view of tho the opposition to Il appointment by president Ilo hoover nver as expressed by the debate in tho the senate over the confirmation of appointment it Is interesting to note that only once in history has tile the senate senata refused to confirm such an appointment kut ledge was waa appointed chief justice by president washington on july 1 when the first chief justice john jay retired because cause of attitude toward the jay treaty with angland lin Un gland the senate tn in december of that year refused to confirm the appointment and lie he retired from the court in tho the elevation of mr hughes to the tha chief new york yorla has given another other oher sons to hold that high position tIou the first chief justice was waa a new yorker john jay lie he was born in now york tort city in 1745 graduated from kings now columbia college in 1704 and bo became alawar n lawyer lie ho was a member of the first and second continental congresses wrote tile the state constitution of new york in 1777 which remained tile the orga organic n le law of 0 that state until 18 1822 and held acce as aa chief justice of the hie state supreme court white while serving as a member of the continental congress ile he served as president ot of tho the continental congress from 1778 70 and then was sent to spain as united states minister to that country in 1782 he be went to paris and there with franklin and adams arranged the terms of the treaty of peace which ended tho the revolution after his re turn to this country in 1781 lie he was wa elected secretary tary of foreign by congress and retained that onico until tile the constitution superseded the articles of confederation jaya was one of the originators oriel natora of the federal writing five of tile tha weightiest weight iest of those essays which did so BO much to secure the adoption of the constitution president washington offered him ills his choice of the federal appointive offices and ho be chose the chief of the supreme court which he held until 1705 nis ills next service was waa to go to england at request to try to avert a threatened war between the two countries by making an adjustment of the boundary disputes and concluding a commercial treaty the result was the famous jay treaty which brought down upon his head such a storm of criticism and prevented his being the federalists candidate for president at the end of second term Ilo however wever lie he was elected governor of now new york and again appointed and confirmed chief justice of the united states but declined to accept the position lie ile retired to private life and died di edMay may 17 1820 IS 19 to him as chief justice daniel webster once paid this high digil tribute when the alio spotless clinine ernil rio of the judicial robe fell on john jay it touched nothing less spotless than itself tile tho second chief justice john rutledge of south carolina appointed by washington but not confirmed by the senate was succeeded by oliver ellsworth of connecticut who became chief justice in n 1700 ho had served as a member of tile tho continental congress and the constitutional convention plowing a leading role in framing that great document lie ile was one odthe first senators from connecticut under the constitution was reelected and ani was first to bear the title of watchdog of the Tren treasury sury lie ile served as chief justice from 1700 to 1800 was sent as envoy to F france rance and died november 20 historians are virtually unanimous in characterizing john marshall the fourth chief justice as the greatest of them all ills strong federalism did moro more to entrench that policy in the law of the nation than did the famous alexander hamilton despite the tha fact that most of his service was during the years when the Jefferso jeffersonian ninn leaders dominated tho the nation and tho the strength of the federal government today la Is founded on his interpretation of the constitution born la in vir virginia inia september 24 1755 he served brilliantly as an officer in the continental army during the revolution after tho the war he be studied law lav and had no sooner begun to it than he was recognized os as the equal of anhof any of the great attorneys of virginia not even excluding patrick henry and edmund randolph Kan dolph after several terms as a state legislator during daring which lie he further added to ills his reputation and experience per peri lence ence as an envoy to france lie he was offered successively the positions of attorney general in president adams cabinet and associate justice of the supreme court both of which lie he declined at the request of washington lie he ran for congress and was elected in 17 1709 09 and in 1800 was waa appointed secretary of state under adams while still holding that office ito he was appointed chief justice of the united states and for the next st 34 S t years yeara lie continued to be the absolute head of the supreme judicial tribunal of the united states with a published result of filling thirty volumes of reports ills decisions are monuments to the vast judicial powers and learning which he possessed they are referred to constantly at this day as standard authority on constitutional questions displaying as 03 they do a clearness of thought rind and impregnable logic rarely met with combined with a grasp of great public questions which was that of a statesman these decisions rank with those of the highest judicial authorities of tile the world bl marshall arshall died july 0 1835 and americans have always regarded it as significant that the liberty bell which first pealed out the news of the independence pen dence of this nation should have been cracked while tolling for the afie death of tile the man who did so ranch much to guarantee the permanence of the nation whose advent it heralded marshall Is remembered for two other reasons one la Is that lie presided over one of the most important trials ever held to in tills this country the trial of aaron nurr burr former vice president and one of the leading political leaders of his day for treason the other Ls Is that lie he was the author of a life of washington a monumental work which was the first important blo raphy of the rather father a at ills his raft country and which stands today ns as one of the best marshall was wag succeeded as chief justice by a man who was second only to him in length of if service and importance in making judicial history roger brooke taney ans ids his name and of marshall and taney it has been said that the they y were more important than most of our pr presidents identa taney was a native of maryland where he was born bom march 17 1777 lie ile was admitted to the bar in 1709 1799 and later elected to tile the state legislature falling of reelection election re he be settled in frederick md I 1 in 1801 where he soon goon became the lentil leading ng lawyer of the state in 1827 lie he was appointed attorney general of maryland and in president an drew jackson called him to his cabinet in the same capacity As attorney general taney participated la in the bitter political strife of the jacksonian Jacks onlan era rind and attain attal neti his first fame ile he supported jackson in his tight fight on the united states bank and in 1833 1933 when duane secretary of the treasury refused to remove government deposits from the bank he uns dismissed and taney was made secreta secretary of the treasury ile he immediately ordered the removal of the government deposits and this action was declared by jacksons enemies to nave caused the financial depression which followed it resulted in a bitter debate in congress and that body refused refuse d to confirm it soon afterwards lie he retired to private life but after the death of marshall jackson appointed him chief justice and despite the opposition of clay and webster lie he was confirmed by the senate taneyo chief claim to fame lies in the fact that in 1837 lie he handed down the famous dred scott decision which seemed to open up all parts of the united states to the extension of slavery and brought down upon his hend head a storm of denunciation from tile the north this decision widened the gulf between tile the north and the south and was ono one of tile the prime factors in hastening the civil war from this time the chief justice it not his court was practically in abeyance in may 1801 he attempted to release a prisoner from fort mchenry and to attach the commandant for ignoring his writ although he expected to be arrested and imprisoned for ills his action the tha EU an thorl lea ties had no wish to molest the veteran lagging superfluous on the stage they simply disregarded him and his technicalities and he died in baltimore october 12 1801 lamenting the low estate into which his court had bad fallen toney was followed as chief justice by salmon P chase born in new hampshire january 13 1803 chase emigrated to ohio at an early age practiced law in that state and became an authority on financial affairs lie ile took a prominent part in the slavery dispute and was counsel for so many fugitive slaves that he became known as the attorney general for runaway negroes 11 after serving as united states senator and governor of ohio he was one of the lending leading candidates for the republican nomination tor for president in 1800 lincoln however secured the nomination domination and when he became president he appointed chasa ns as his secretary of treasury lie ile resigned ibis post in 1804 and was appointed chief justice soon afterwards serving until 1873 ue was succeeded by morrison H n W walte site born in connecticut november 20 1816 but like canse an emigrant to ohio where he rose high in the legal profession lie ile was appointed chief justice by president grant in 1874 and served until his death march 23 ills his successor was melville weston fuller born in maine february 11 1833 but appointed to the chief by dent cleveland from illinois where he went t to practice law in 1350 chief justice fuller died july 4 1010 and was succeeded by edward D white of louisiana who served from 1010 to his bis death on may 10 1921 1021 when he was succeeded b by Y william howard toft taft appointed by president 11 arding |