The highest court in the federal judiciary / Established 1789
Supreme Court of the United States
Washington, D.C. · nine justices, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, serving for life.
116
Justices in history
9
Currently serving
11
Seats over time
40 / 54
Appointed D / R
Current justices
| Justice | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Clarence Thomas | Bush (R) | 1991 |
| John Glover Roberts Jr. · Chief | Bush (R) | 2005 |
| Samuel A. Alito Jr. | Bush (R) | 2006 |
| Sonia Sotomayor | Obama (D) | 2009 |
| Elena Kagan | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Neil M. Gorsuch | Trump (R) | 2017 |
| Brett M. Kavanaugh | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Amy Coney Barrett | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Ketanji Brown Jackson | Biden (D) | 2022 |
Former justices
| Justice | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Gerald Breyer | Clinton (D) | 1994–2022 |
| Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Clinton (D) | 1993–2020 |
| David Hackett Souter | Bush (R) | 1990–2009 |
| Anthony McLeod Kennedy | Reagan (R) | 1988–2018 |
| Antonin Scalia | Reagan (R) | 1986–2016 |
| Sandra Day O'Connor | Reagan (R) | 1981–2006 |
| John Paul Stevens | Ford (R) | 1975–2010 |
| Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. | Nixon (R) | 1971–1987 |
| William Hubbs Rehnquist · Chief | Nixon (R) | 1971–2005 |
| Harry Andrew Blackmun | Nixon (R) | 1970–1994 |
| Warren Earl Burger · Chief | Nixon (R) | 1969–1986 |
| Thurgood Marshall | Johnson (D) | 1967–1991 |
| Abe Fortas | Johnson (D) | 1965–1969 |
| Arthur Joseph Goldberg | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1965 |
| Byron Raymond White | Kennedy (D) | 1962–1993 |
| Potter Stewart | Eisenhower (R) | 1959–1981 |
| William Joseph Brennan Jr. | Eisenhower (R) | 1957–1990 |
| Charles Evans Whittaker | Eisenhower (R) | 1957–1962 |
| John Marshall Harlan | Eisenhower (R) | 1955–1971 |
| Earl Warren · Chief | Eisenhower (R) | 1954–1969 |
| Tom C. Clark | Truman (D) | 1949–1967 |
| Sherman Minton | Truman (D) | 1949–1956 |
| Frederick Moore Vinson · Chief | Truman (D) | 1946–1953 |
| Harold Hitz Burton | Truman (D) | 1945–1958 |
| Wiley Blount Rutledge | Roosevelt (D) | 1943–1949 |
| James Francis Byrnes | Roosevelt (D) | 1941–1942 |
| Robert Houghwout Jackson | Roosevelt (D) | 1941–1954 |
| Frank Murphy | Roosevelt (D) | 1940–1949 |
| William Orville Douglas | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1975 |
| Felix Frankfurter | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1962 |
| Stanley Forman Reed | Roosevelt (D) | 1938–1957 |
| Hugo Lafayette Black | Roosevelt (D) | 1937–1971 |
| Benjamin Nathan Cardozo | Hoover (R) | 1932–1938 |
| Owen Josephus Roberts | Hoover (R) | 1930–1945 |
| Harlan Fiske Stone · Chief | Coolidge (R) | 1925–1946 |
| Edward Terry Sanford | Harding (R) | 1923–1930 |
| Pierce Butler | Harding (R) | 1922–1939 |
| George Sutherland | Harding (R) | 1922–1938 |
| William Howard Taft · Chief | Harding (R) | 1921–1930 |
| Louis Dembitz Brandeis | Wilson (D) | 1916–1939 |
| John Hessin Clarke | Wilson (D) | 1916–1922 |
| James Clark McReynolds | Wilson (D) | 1914–1941 |
| Mahlon Pitney | Taft (R) | 1912–1922 |
| Charles Evans Hughes · Chief | Taft (R) | 1910–1941 |
| Joseph Rucker Lamar | Taft (R) | 1910–1916 |
| Willis Van Devanter | Taft (R) | 1910–1937 |
| Horace Harmon Lurton | Taft (R) | 1909–1914 |
| William Henry Moody | Roosevelt (R) | 1906–1910 |
| William Rufus Day | Roosevelt (R) | 1903–1922 |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Roosevelt (R) | 1902–1932 |
| Joseph McKenna | McKinley (R) | 1898–1925 |
| Rufus Wheeler Peckham | Cleveland (D) | 1895–1909 |
| Edward Douglass White · Chief | Cleveland (D) | 1894–1921 |
| Howell Edmunds Jackson | Harrison (R) | 1893–1895 |
| George Shiras Jr. | Harrison (R) | 1892–1903 |
| Henry Billings Brown | Harrison (R) | 1890–1906 |
| David Josiah Brewer | Harrison (R) | 1889–1910 |
| Melville Weston Fuller · Chief | Cleveland (D) | 1888–1910 |
| Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar | Cleveland (D) | 1888–1893 |
| Samuel M. Blatchford | Arthur (R) | 1882–1893 |
| Horace Gray | Arthur (R) | 1881–1902 |
| Stanley Matthews | Garfield (R) | 1881–1889 |
| William Burnham Woods | Hayes (R) | 1880–1887 |
| John Marshall Harlan | Hayes (R) | 1877–1911 |
| Morrison Remick Waite · Chief | Grant (R) | 1874–1888 |
| Ward Hunt | Grant (R) | 1872–1882 |
| Joseph P. Bradley | Grant (R) | 1870–1892 |
| William Strong | Grant (R) | 1870–1880 |
| Salmon Portland Chase · Chief | Lincoln (R) | 1864–1873 |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Lincoln (R) | 1863–1897 |
| David Davis | Lincoln (R) | 1862–1877 |
| Samuel Freeman Miller | Lincoln (R) | 1862–1890 |
| Noah Haynes Swayne | Lincoln (R) | 1862–1881 |
| Nathan Clifford | Buchanan (D) | 1858–1881 |
| John Archibald Campbell | Pierce (D) | 1853–1861 |
| Benjamin Robbins Curtis | Fillmore (N) | 1851–1857 |
| Robert Cooper Grier | Polk (D) | 1846–1870 |
| Levi Woodbury | Polk (D) | 1846–1851 |
| Samuel Nelson | Tyler (N) | 1845–1872 |
| Peter Vivian Daniel | Buren (D) | 1841–1860 |
| John Catron | Jackson (D) | 1837–1865 |
| John McKinley | Buren (D) | 1837–1852 |
| Philip Pendleton Barbour | Jackson (D) | 1836–1841 |
| Roger Brooke Taney · Chief | Jackson (D) | 1836–1864 |
| James Moore Wayne | Jackson (D) | 1835–1867 |
| Henry Baldwin | Jackson (D) | 1830–1844 |
| John McLean | Jackson (D) | 1829–1861 |
| Robert Trimble | Adams (N) | 1826–1828 |
| Smith Thompson | Monroe (N) | 1823–1843 |
| Gabriel Duvall | Madison (N) | 1811–1835 |
| Joseph Story | Madison (N) | 1811–1845 |
| Henry Brockholst Livingston | Jefferson (N) | 1807–1823 |
| Thomas Todd | Jefferson (N) | 1807–1826 |
| William Johnson Jr. | Jefferson (N) | 1804–1834 |
| John Marshall · Chief | Adams (N) | 1801–1835 |
| Alfred Moore | Adams (N) | 1799–1804 |
| Bushrod Washington | Adams (N) | 1798–1829 |
| Samuel Chase | Washington (—) | 1796–1811 |
| Oliver Ellsworth · Chief | Washington (—) | 1796–1800 |
| William Paterson | Washington (—) | 1793–1806 |
| Thomas Johnson | Washington (—) | 1791–1793 |
| James Iredell | Washington (—) | 1790–1799 |
| John Blair Jr. | Washington (—) | 1789–1795 |
| William Cushing | Washington (—) | 1789–1810 |
| John Jay · Chief | Washington (—) | 1789–1795 |
| James Wilson | Washington (—) | 1789–1798 |
| John Rutledge | Washington (—) | ?–1795 |
How a justice gets here. Each justice is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat for life. Open any justice to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded — a chain that runs back to 1789.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.