Franklin D. Roosevelt

::FDR redirects here. For other uses, see FDR (disambiguation).

Supreme Court appointments

• Hugo Black (AL) August 19, 1937-September 17, 1971
• Stanley Forman Reed (KY) January 31, 1938-February 25, 1957
• Felix Frankfurter (MA) January 30, 1939-August 28, 1962
• William O. Douglas (CT) April 17, 1939-November 12, 1975
• Frank Murphy (MI) February 5, 1940-July 19, 1949
• Harlan Fiske Stone (Chief Justice, NY) July 3, 1941-April 22, 1946
• James Francis Byrnes (SC) July 8, 1941-October 3, 1942
• Robert H. Jackson (NY) July 11, 1941-October 9, 1954
• Wiley Blount Rutledge (IA) February 15, 1943-September 10, 1949

President Roosevelt appointed nine Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States, which, depending on one's point of view, either puts him in a tie with George Washington, or one behind him. Washington appointed ten Justices, but appointed John Rutledge twice, and Rutledge's nomination was rejected by the Senate the second time. Rutledge had been serving on the court in the meantime, however. Between the appointment of Justice Robert H. Jackson in 1941 and Roosevelt's death in 1945, eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices were Roosevelt appointees, the only holdout being Hoover appointee Owen Josephus Roberts, who was replaced by President Truman in 1948. Thus, Roosevelt almost became the second president to appoint the entire Supreme Court.

Related Topics:
Supreme Court of the United States - George Washington - John Rutledge - Robert H. Jackson - 1941 - 1945 - Hoover - Owen Josephus Roberts - 1948

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In 1937, Roosevelt proposed the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 (called the Court-packing Bill by its opponents). The proposal gave the President the power to appoint an extra Supreme Court Justice for every sitting Justice over the age of 70. The bill died in Congress.

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