The First Six Supreme Court Justices

The United States Supreme Court was established through the United States Constitution, though the court did not formally begin to take shape until the passing of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was signed by President George Washington. Washington nominated John Jay as the first-ever chief justice, along with associate justices John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair Jr., Robert Hanson Harrison, and James Wilson.

All appointments were approved by the United States Senate on September 26, 1789, and the court assembled for the first time in February of the following year. The court reconvened in August of 1790, though the first two meetings were largely uneventful, mainly involving the approval of bar appointments and other general matters of the court system.

Chief Justice John Jay was the author of numerous essays found in The Federalist, a collection of nearly 100 essays encouraging New York citizens to support the recently proposed American Constitution. The essays were published anonymously at the time, but were later attributed to Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.

During his time as chief justice, Jay ran for governor of New York on multiple occasions. He also negotiated a treaty with Great Britain, known as the Jay Treaty, which addressed various outstanding issues resulting from America’s movement to independence from Great Britain. Despite the lack of support for the Jay Treaty in the United States, Jay’s reason for stepping down as Chief Justice in 1795 was due not to his negotiation of the treaty, but rather to his success in one of his gubernatorial bids.

James Wilson had been a prominent figure over the course of the Constitutional Convention, but his appointment to the Supreme Court resulted in a number of professional troubles. Although he was a knowledgeable legal theorist, he routinely missed high court sessions in order to dodge bill collectors after entering into several bad land deals.

John Rutledge had also been a presence at the Constitutional Convention, prompting Washington to appoint him to the high court. Rutledge had a unique career as a member of the Supreme Court: in 1791, just a year after the court’s first meeting, he became the first justice to quit, doing so before the Supreme Court heard its first case. However, Washington asked Rutledge to take over for John Jay as chief justice in 1795, a request Rutledge accepted.

The controversy did not end there. While Rutledge heard two cases as chief justice, he was never approved by the Senate, which objected to his outspoken vitriol for the aforementioned Jay Treaty. After the Senate elected to remove Rutledge from his position, he responded by jumping into the Charleston Bay. Rutledge survived the jump but never held public office again.

Unlike several of the first six Supreme Court justices, William Cushing served on the high court for a number of years, serving until 1810. He was offered the position of chief justice in 1796, after Rutledge’s removal. He declined, despite a nomination from Washington and unanimous approval from the Senate.

John Blair Jr., meanwhile, was a notable Virginian jurist prior to his brief time on the Supreme Court. Like Jay, he stepped down from his position in 1795.

Finally, Robert Hanson Harrison provided aid to Washington over the course of the Revolutionary War, followed by a stint as the president’s military secretary. He had the shortest run of any original justice, dying of illness in April of 1790 before officially accepting the position.

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