Records & Rankings

Presidents who appointed the most federal judges

Ranked by total appointments to the courts we cover: the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals. Each president links to everyone they appointed.

#	Name	Detail	Judges
1	Ronald Reagan	4 to the Supreme Court	381
2	William J. Clinton	2 to the Supreme Court	379
3	Barack Obama	2 to the Supreme Court	326
4	George W. Bush	2 to the Supreme Court	326
5	Donald J. Trump	3 to the Supreme Court	272
6	Jimmy Carter	0 to the Supreme Court	267
7	Richard M. Nixon	4 to the Supreme Court	236
8	Joseph R. Biden	1 to the Supreme Court	233
9	Franklin D. Roosevelt	9 to the Supreme Court	209
10	George H.W. Bush	2 to the Supreme Court	193
11	Dwight D. Eisenhower	5 to the Supreme Court	183
12	Lyndon B. Johnson	2 to the Supreme Court	179
13	Harry S Truman	4 to the Supreme Court	143
14	John F. Kennedy	2 to the Supreme Court	134
15	None (reassignment)	0 to the Supreme Court	118
16	Theodore Roosevelt	3 to the Supreme Court	94
17	Calvin Coolidge	1 to the Supreme Court	81
18	Woodrow Wilson	3 to the Supreme Court	78
19	William H. Taft	6 to the Supreme Court	70
20	Gerald Ford	1 to the Supreme Court	67
21	Herbert Hoover	3 to the Supreme Court	65
22	Warren G. Harding	4 to the Supreme Court	54
23	Benjamin Harrison	4 to the Supreme Court	53
24	Grover Cleveland	4 to the Supreme Court	52
25	Ulysses Grant	4 to the Supreme Court	42

Computed from the FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.