In order to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, an individual must be nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate, with at least half of that body approving in the affirmative. Generally, a justice's qualifications are judged by the President and, most visibly, by a Senate hearing. There is no definitive qualification of age or experience that is a standard to be met; instead is a much more subjective process taken by the Senate, occasionally resulting in a sometimes controversial defeat of Presidential nominees.

The following list consists of past Supreme Court Justices since 1789 placed in the order in which they took the judicial oath of office. Active Justice names are in bold.

 
Name State Associate Justice Appointed By Chief Justice
James Wilson PA Oct 5, 1789 - Aug 21, 1798 Washington
John Jay NY Washington Oct 19, 1789 - Jun 29, 1795
William Cushing MA Feb 2, 1790 - Sep 13, 1810 Washington
John Blair VA Feb 2, 1790 - Oct 25, 1795 Washington
John Rutledge SC Feb 15, 1790 - Mar 5, 1791 Washington
James Iredell NC May 12, 1790 - Oct 20, 1799 Washington
Thomas Johnson MD Aug 6, 1792 - Jan 16, 1793 Washington
William Paterson NJ Mar 11, 1793 - Sep 9, 1806 Washington
John Rutledge SC Washington Aug 12, 1795 - Dec 15, 1795
Samuel Chase MD Feb 4, 1796 - Jun 19, 1811 Washington
Oliver Ellsworth CT Washington Mar 8, 1796 - Dec 15, 1800
Bushrod Washington VA Feb 4, 1799 - Nov 26, 1829 Adams
Alfred Moore NC Apr 21, 1800 - Jan 26, 1804 Adams
John Marshall VA Adams Feb 4, 1801 - Jul 6, 1835
William Johnson SC May 7, 1804 - Aug 4, 1834 Jefferson
Henry Brockholst Livingston NY Jan 20, 1807 - Mar 18, 1823 Jefferson
Thomas Todd KY May 4, 1807 - Feb 7, 1826 Jefferson
Gabriel Duvall MD Nov 23, 1811 - Jan 14, 1835 Madison
Joseph Story MA Feb 3, 1812 - Sep 10, 1845 Madison
Smith Thompson NY Dec 9, 1823 - Dec 18, 1843 Monroe
Robert Trimble KY Jun 16, 1826 - Aug 25, 1828 J. Q. Adams
John McLean OH Jan 11, 1830 - Apr 4, 1861 Jackson
Henry Baldwin PA Jan 18, 1830 - Apr 21, 1844 Jackson
James Moore Wayne GA Jan 14, 1835 - Jul 5, 1867 Jackson
Roger Brooke Taney MD Jackson Mar 28, 1836 - Oct 12, 1864
Philip Pendleton Barbour VA May 12, 1836 - Feb 25, 1841 Jackson
John Catron TN May 1, 1837 - May 30, 1865 Van Buren
John McKinley AL Jan 9, 1838 - Jul 19, 1852 Van Buren
Peter Vivian Daniel VA Jan 10, 1842 - May 31, 1860 Van Buren
Samuel Nelson NY Feb 27, 1845 - Nov 28, 1872 Tyler
Levi Woodbury NH Sep 23, 1845 - Sep 4, 1851 Polk
Robert Cooper Grier PA Aug 10, 1846 - Jan 31, 1870 Polk
Benjamin Robbins Curtis MA Oct 10, 1851 - Sep 30, 1857 Fillmore
John Archibald Campbell AL Apr 11, 1853 - Apr 30, 1861 Pierce
Nathan Clifford ME Jan 21, 1858 - Jul 25, 1881 Buchanan
Noah Haynes Swayne OH Jan 27, 1862 - Jan 24, 1881 Lincoln
Samuel Freeman Miller IA Jul 21, 1862 - Oct 13, 1890 Lincoln
David Davis IL Dec 10, 1862 - Mar 4, 1877 Lincoln
Stephen Johnson Field CA May 20, 1863 - Dec 1, 1897 Lincoln
Salmon Portland Chase OH Lincoln Dec 15, 1864 - May 7, 1873
William Strong PA Mar 15, 1870 - Dec 14, 1880 U. S. Grant
Joseph Philo Bradley NJ Mar 23, 1870 - Jan 22, 1892 U. S. Grant
Ward Hunt NY Jan 9, 1873 - Jan 27, 1882 U. S. Grant
Morrison Remick Waite OH U. S. Grant Mar 4, 1874 - Mar 23, 1888
John Marshall Harlan KY Dec 10, 1877 - Oct 14, 1911 Hayes
William Burnham Woods GA Jan 5, 1881 - May 14, 1887 Hayes
Thomas Stanley Matthews OH May 17, 1881 - Mar 22, 1889 James Garfield
Horace Gray MA Jan 9, 1882 - Sep 15, 1902 Arthur
Samuel Blatchford NY Apr 3, 1882 - Jul 7, 1893 Arthur
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar MS Jan 18, 1888 - Jan 23, 1893 Grover Cleveland
Melville Weston Fuller IL Grover Cleveland Oct 8, 1888 - Jul 4, 1910
David Josiah Brewer KS Jan 6, 1890 - Mar 28, 1910 Harrison
Henry Billings Brown MI Jan 5, 1891 - May 28, 1906 Harrison
George Shiras, Jr PA Oct 10, 1892 - Feb 23, 1903 Harrison
Howell Edmunds Jackson TN Mar 14, 1893 - Aug 8, 1895 Harrison
Edward Douglass White LA Mar 12, 1894 - Dec 18, 1910 Cleveland
Rufus Wheeler Peckham NY Jan 6, 1896 - Oct 24, 1909 Cleveland
Joseph McKenna CA Jan 26, 1898 - Jan 5, 1925 McKinley
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr MA Dec 8, 1902 - Jan 12, 1932 Roosevelt
William Rufus Day OH Mar 2, 1903 - Nov 13, 1922 Roosevelt
William Henry Moody MA Dec 17, 1906 - Nov 20, 1910 Roosevelt
Horace Harmon Lurton TN Jan 3, 1910 - Jul 12, 1914 Taft
Charles Evans Hughes NY Oct 10, 1910 - Jun 10, 1916 Taft
Edward Douglass White LA Taft Dec 19, 1910 - May 19, 1921
Willis Van Devanter WY Jan 3, 1911 - Jun 2, 1937 Taft
Joseph Rucker Lamar GA Jan 3, 1911 - Jan 2, 1916 Taft
Mahlon Pitney NJ Mar 18, 1912 - Dec 31, 1922 Taft
James Clark McReynolds TN Oct 12, 1914 - Jan 31, 1941 Wilson
Louis Dembitz Brandeis MA Jun 5, 1916 - Feb 13, 1939 Wilson
John Hessin Clarke OH Oct 9, 1916 - Sep 18, 1922 Wilson
William Howard Taft OH Harding Jul 11, 1921 - Feb 3, 1930
George Sutherland UT Oct 2, 1922 - Jan 17, 1938 Harding
Pierce Butler MN Jan 2, 1923 - Nov 16, 1939 Harding
Edward Terry Sanford TN Feb 19, 1923 - Mar 8, 1930 Harding
Harlan Fiske Stone NY Mar 2, 1925 - Jul 2, 1941 Coolidge
Charles Evans Hughes NY Hoover Feb 24, 1930 - Jun 30, 1941
Owen Josephus Roberts PA Jun 2, 1930 - Jul 31, 1945 Hoover
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo NY Mar 31, 1932 - Jul 9, 1938 Hoover
Hugo LaFayette Black AL Aug 19, 1937 - Sep 17, 1971 F. D. Roosevelt
Stanley Forman Reed KY Jan 31, 1938 - Feb 25, 1957 F. D. Roosevelt
Felix Frankfurter MA Jan 30, 1939 - Aug 28, 1962 F. D. Roosevelt
William Orville Douglas CT Apr 17, 1939 - Nov 12, 1975 F. D. Roosevelt
Francis William Murphy MI Feb 5, 1940 - Jul 19, 1949 F. D. Roosevelt
Harlan Fiske Stone NY F. D. Roosevelt Jul 3, 1941 - Apr 22, 1946
James Francis Byrnes SC Jul 8, 1941 - Oct 3, 1942 F. D. Roosevelt
Robert Houghwout Jackson NY Jul 11, 1941 - Oct 9, 1954 F. D. Roosevelt
Wiley Blount Rutledge IA Feb 15, 1943 - Sep 10, 1949 F. D. Roosevelt
Harold Hitz Burton OH Oct 1, 1945 - Oct 13, 1958 Truman
Frederick Moore Vinson KY Truman Jun 24, 1946 - Sep 8, 1953
Thomas Campbell Clark TX Aug 24, 1949 - Jun 12, 1967 Truman
Sherman Minton IN Oct 12, 1949 - Oct 15, 1956 Truman
Earl Warren CA Eisenhower Oct 5, 1953 - Jun 23, 1969
John Marshall Harlan II NY Mar 28, 1955 - Sep 23, 1971 Eisenhower
William Joseph Brennan NJ Oct 16, 1956 - Jul 20, 1990 Eisenhower
Charles Evans Whittaker MO Mar 25, 1957 - Mar 31, 1962 Eisenhower
Potter Stewart OH Oct 14, 1958 - Jul 3, 1981 Eisenhower
Byron Raymond White CO Apr 16, 1962 - Jun 28, 1993 Kennedy
Arthur Joseph Goldberg IL Oct 1, 1962 - Jul 25, 1965 Kennedy
Abe Fortas TN Oct 4, 1965 - May 14, 1969 Johnson
Thurgood Marshall NY Oct 2, 1967 - Oct 1, 1991 Johnson
Warren Earl Burger VA Nixon Jun 23, 1969 - Sep 26, 1986
Harry Andrew Blackmun MN Jun 9, 1970 - Aug 3, 1994 Nixon
Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr VA Jan 7, 1972 - Jun 26, 1987 Nixon
William Hubbs Rehnquist AZ Jan 7, 1972 - Sep 26, 1986 Nixon
John Paul Stevens IL Dec 19, 1975 Ford
Sandra Day O'Connor AZ Sep 25, 1981 Reagan
William Hubbs Rehnquist AZ Reagan Sep 26, 1986 -
Antonin Scalia VA Sep 26, 1986 Reagan
Anthony McLeod Kennedy CA Feb 18, 1988 Reagan
David Hackett Souter NH Oct 9, 1990 G. H. W. Bush
Clarence Thomas GA Oct 23, 1991 G. H. W. Bush
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg NY Aug 10, 1993 Clinton
Stephen Gerald Breyer MA Aug 3, 1994 Clinton

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