Chief Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court

1st -  John Jay  (New York),  1789-1795   Image

Appointed by:  George Washington
Tenure on the Court:  1789-95
Quick fact:  Congress originally authorized five justices on the Supreme Court, increasing it to six in 1790.

2nd -  John Rutledge  (South Carolina),  1795   Image

Appointed by:  George Washington
Tenure on the Court:  1790-91, 1795

3rd -  Oliver Ellsworth  (Connecticut),  1796-1800   Image

Appointed by:  George Washington
Tenure on the Court:  1796-1800

4th -  John Marshall  (Virginia),  1801-1835   Image

Appointed by:  John Adams
Tenure on the Court:  1789-95, 1801-35
Noted Cases:  Marbury v. Madison, Barron v. Baltimore, Gibbons v. Ogden
Quick fact:  Longest serving Chief Justice, established the Court's right to interpret the Constitution (doctrine of Judicial Review) in 1803. Congress authorized a seventh justice in 1807. The Liberty Bell purportedly cracked tolling his death.

5th -  Roger B. Taney  (Maryland),  1836-1864   Image

Appointed by:  Andrew Jackson
Tenure on the Court:  1836-64
Noted Cases:  Scott v. Sanford (Dred Scott)
Quick fact:  Congress added the eighth and ninth justices in 1837, and a 10th in 1863. The tenth seat was abolished in 1865.

6th -  Salmon P. Chase  (Ohio),  1864-1873   Image

Appointed by:  Abraham Lincoln
Tenure on the Court:  1864-73
Quick fact:  Congress reduced the justices on the Court to seven in 1867 to prevent President Johnson from appointing any members. The two seats were restored in 1869 when Johnson left office, and the Court has remained at nine justices since then.

7th -  Morrison R. Waite  (Ohio),  1874-1888   Image

Appointed by:  Ulysses S. Grant
Tenure on the Court:  1874-88
Noted Cases:  Civil Rights Cases

8th -  Melville W. Fuller  (Illinois),  1888-1910   Image

Appointed by:  Grover Cleveland
Tenure on the Court:  1888-1910
Noted Cases:  Plessy v. Ferguson, Adair v. U.S.
Quick fact:  In 1891, Congress abolished the requirement that Supreme Court justices ride circuit.

9th -  Edward D. White  (Louisiana),  1910-1921   Image

Appointed by:  William H. Taft
Tenure on the Court:  1894-1921
Noted Cases:  Weeks v. U.S.

10th -  William Howard Taft  (Connecticut),  1921-1930   Image

Appointed by:  Warren G. Harding
Tenure on the Court:  1921-30
Quick fact:  Taft had previously served as the 27th president of the United States.

11th -  Charles Evans Hughes  (New York),  1930-1941   Image

Appointed by:  Herbert Hoover
Tenure on the Court:  1910-16, 30-41
Noted Cases:  Near v. Minnesota
Quick fact:  Hughes had stepped down as Associate Justice in 1916 to run for president. It was during Hughes' tenure that FDR tried to "pack" the Court with additional justices favorable to New Deal policies.

12th -  Harlan F. Stone  (New York),  1941-1946   Image

Appointed by:  Franklin D. Roosevelt
Tenure on the Court:  1925-46
Noted Cases:  WV Bd. of Education v. Barnette, Wickard v. Filburn

13th -  Frederick M. Vinson  (Kentucky),  1946-1953   Image

Appointed by:  Harry S Truman
Tenure on the Court:  1946-53
Noted Cases:  Everson v. Bd. of Education

14th -  Earl Warren  (California),  1953-1969   Image

Appointed by:  Dwight D. Eisenhower
Tenure on the Court:  1953-69
Noted Cases:  Brown v. Bd. of Education, Griswold v. Connecticut, Miranda v. Arizona
Quick fact:  An activist liberal on the Court, Warren had been the moving force in California behind the unfortunate relocation of Japanese-Americans during WWII. His reign as Chief Justice was a disappointment to Ike.

15th -  Warren E. Burger  (Virginia),  1969-1986   Image

Appointed by:  Richard M. Nixon
Tenure on the Court:  1969-87
Noted Cases:  Roe v. Wade, Furman v. Georgia, Univ. California v. Bakke

16th -  William H. Rehnquist  (Arizona),  1986-2005   Image

Appointed by:  Ronald Reagan
Tenure on the Court:  1972-2005
Noted Cases:  Boy Scouts of America v. Dale

17th -  John G. Roberts, Jr.  (New York),  2005-Present   Image

Appointed by:  George W. Bush
Tenure on the Court:  2005-