Federal judges nominated by Gerald Ford

U.S. Federal Courts
Vacancies and Nominations

Judicial vacancies in federal courts • Judicial vacancies during the Biden administration • Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden • Federal judicial appointments by president • Supreme Court vacancy, 2022

ABA ratings of presidential federal judicial nominees • ABA ratings during the Biden administration • ABA ratings during the Trump administration

Gerald Ford was president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. During his time in office he had 62 judges successfully nominated and confirmed to the federal bench. Ford had one nominee withdrawn and 12 not voted on by the Senate.^[1]^[2]

List of judges

Judge	Final post:	Term:	Previous Post:	Term:	Bachelors:	Law:
John Paul Stevens	Supreme Court	12/17/1975-6/30/2010	Seventh Circuit	10/14/1970-12/18/1975	University of Chicago, 1941	Northwestern University Law, 1947
Anthony Kennedy	Supreme Court	February 17, 1988 - July 1, 2018	Ninth Circuit	March 24, 1975 - February 16, 1988	Stanford University, 1958	Harvard Law School, 1961
J. Blaine Anderson	Ninth Circuit	7/2/1976 - 4/16/1988	District of Idaho	1971-1976		University of Idaho College of Law (1949)
Cecil Poole	Ninth Circuit	11/27/1979 - 1/15/1996	Northern District of California	1976-1979	University of Michigan (1935)	University of Michigan Law School (1938), Harvard Law School (1939)
John F. Grady	Northern District of Illinois	11/21/1975-5/23/1994	Attorney in private practice	1961-1976	Northwestern University, 1952	Northwestern University School of Law, 1954
Charles Haight	Southern District of New York	March 29, 1976-September 23, 1995			Yale University, 1952	Yale Law School, 1955
Stanley Brotman	District of New Jersey	03/14/1975 - 04/22/1990			Yale, B.A., 1947	Harvard Law, LL.B., 1950
Ralph Guy	Sixth Circuit	October 16, 1985 - September 1, 1994	Eastern District of Michigan	1976 - 1985	University of Michigan, A.B., 1951	University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1953
Richard D. Rogers	District of Kansas	August 5, 1975 - January 1, 1989			Kansas State University, 1943	University of Kansas Law, 1947
Clarence Brimmer	District of Wyoming	9/16/1975 - 9/27/2006			University of Michigan, B.A., 1944	University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1947
Juan Torruella	First Circuit	October 4, 1984 - October 26, 2020	District of Puerto Rico	1974-1984	University of Pennsylvania, B.S., 1954	Boston University School of Law, J.D., 1957
William Stafford	Northern District of Florida	May 14, 1975-May 31, 1996			Temple University, 1953	Temple University School of Law, 1956
Joel Flaum	Seventh Circuit	May 5, 1983 - Present	Northern District of Illinois	1974 - 1983
Terry Shell	Eastern District of Arkansas	9/15/1975 - 6/25/1978			Arkansas State University (1946)	University of Arkansas School of Law (1949)
Peter Fay	Eleventh Circuit	October 1, 1981 - January 19, 1994	Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals	September 21, 1976 - October 1, 1981	Rollins College, B.A., 1951	University of Florida College of Law, J.D., 1956
Gerald Tjoflat	Eleventh Circuit	October 1, 1981 - November 19, 2019	Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals	1975 - 1981		Duke University School of Law, LL.B., 1957
James Hill (Eleventh Circuit)	Eleventh Circuit	October 1, 1981 - October 15, 1989	Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals	May 21, 1976 - October 1, 1981	University of South Carolina, B.Sc., 1948	Emory University School of Law, J.D. 1948
William Bauer	Seventh Circuit	December 20, 1974 - October 30, 1994	Northern District of Illinois	1971 - 1975	Elmhurst College, A.B., 1949	DePaul University College of Law, J.D., 1952
George Pratt	Second Circuit	6/21/1982 - 5/22/1993	Eastern District of New York	5/7/1976 - 6/29/1982	Yale, B.A., 1950	Yale Law, J.D., 1953
Thomas Meskill	Second Circuit	4/23/1975 - 6/30/1993			Trinity College, B.S., 1950	University of Connecticut Law, J.D., 1956
Patrick Higginbotham	Fifth Circuit	July 30, 1982 - August 28, 2006	Northern District of Texas	1975 - 1982	University of Alabama, B.A., 1960	University of Alabama School of Law, LL.B., 1961
W. Eugene Davis	Fifth Circuit	November 16, 1983 - December 31, 2016	Western District of Louisiana	1976 - 1983		Tulane University Law School, J.D., 1960
John Copenhaver	Southern District of West Virginia	09/3/1996 - 11/01/2018	U.S. Bankruptcy Judge	1973-1976	West Virginia U., A.B., 1947	West Virginia U. Law, LL.B., 1950
Charles Schwartz	Eastern District of Louisiana	05/07/1976 - 02/27/1991			Tulane U., B.A., 1943	Tulane Law, J.D., 1947
Maurice Cohill	Western District of Pennsylvania	May 21, 1976 - November 28, 1994	Judge, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas	1968-1976	Princeton University, 1951	University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1956
James Martin Fitzgerald	District of Alaska	12/20/1974 - 1/1/1989			Willamette U., B.A., 1950	Willamette U. College of Law, LL.B., 1951
William Schwarzer	Northern District of California	July 23, 1976 - April 30, 1991			University of Southern California, A.B., 1948	Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1951
Robert Takasugi	Central District of California	5/7/1976 - 9/30/1996			UCLA, 1953	USC Law School, J.D., 1959
Theodore Newman	District of Columbia Court of Appeals	1976 -	Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia	1970-1976	Brown University, 1955	Harvard Law School, 1958
Eugene Siler	Sixth Circuit	September 16, 1991 - December 31, 2001	Eastern District of Kentucky	November 13, 1975 - September 20, 1991	Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1958	University of Virginia School of Law, LL.B., 1963
William Steele Sessions	Western District of Texas	12/20/1974 - 11/1/1987			Baylor University (1956)	Baylor University School of Law (1958)
Henry Bramwell	Eastern District of New York	12/26/1974 - 10/1/1987	Civil Court of the City of New York	1969-1975		Brooklyn Law, LL.B., 1948
Gerard Goettel	Southern District of New York	March 30, 1976 - August 5, 1993			Duke University, 1950	Columbia Law School, 1955
Vincent Broderick	Southern District of New York	10/4/1976 - 12/1/1988			Princeton University (1941)	Harvard Law School (1948)
Howard Munson	Northern District of New York	10/4/1976 - 11/5/1990			Pennsylvania U., B.S., 1948	Syracuse Law, LL.B., 1952
John Elfvin	Western District of New York	12/21/1974 - 7/1/1987			Cornell University (1942)	Georgetown University Law School (1947)
Jesse Henley	Eighth Circuit	3/14/1975 - 5/31/1982	Western District of Arkansas	9/8/1959 - 3/24/1975		University of Arkansas School of Law, LL.B., 1941
John Gerry	District of New Jersey	12/20/1974 - 10/1/1994	Superior Court of New York	1973-1975	Princeton, A.B., 1950	Harvard Law, LL.B., 1953
James Churchill	Eastern District of Michigan	12/20/1974 - 12/31/1989			University of Michigan, B.B.A., 1947	University of Michigan Law School, LL.B., 1950
Edward Cahn	Eastern District of Pennsylvania	12/20/1974 - 12/31/1998			Lehigh U., B.A., 1955	Yale Law, LL.B, 1958
Matthew Perry	District of South Carolina	9/20/1979-9/30/1995	Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces	1971-1974	South Carolina State College, 1948	South Carolina State College, 1951
Joseph Clarke	Eastern District of Virginia	12/20/1974 - 7/30/1991			University of Virginia (1945)	University of Virginia School of Law (1945)
Charles Haden II	Southern District of West Virginia	11/21/1975 - 3/20/2004	Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia	1972 - 1975	West Virginia U., B.S., 1958	West Virginia U. Law, LL.B., 1961
Kenneth Hall (West Virginia)	Fourth Circuit	9/3/1976 - 2/24/1998	Southern District of West Virginia	1971 - 1976		West Virginia University College of Law (1948)
Morey Sear	Eastern District of Louisiana	5/7/1976 - 10/31/2000				Tulane Law, J.D., 1950
Robert O'Conor	Southern District of Texas	4/25/1975 - 9/30/1984			University of Texas (1956)	University of Texas School of Law (1957)
Ross Sterling	Southern District of Texas	5/7/1976 - 1/14/1988			University of Texas (1956)	University of Texas School of Law (1957)
John Manos	Northern District of Ohio	3/29/1976 - 4/1/1991			Case Institute of Technology (1944)	Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (1950)
James Ackerman	Central District of Illinois	3/31/1979 - 11/23/1984	Southern District of Illinois	7/2/1976 - 3/31/1979	Marquette U., B.S., 1947	Marquette U. Law School, J.D., 1949
Harlington Wood	Seventh Circuit	5/7/1976 - 1/15/1992	Southern District of Illinois	1973 - 1976	University of Illinois (1942)	University of Illinois College of Law (1948)
John Crowley (Illinois)	Northern District of Illinois	6/16/1976 - 6/30/1981				De Paul University College of Law (1960), New York University School of Law (1961)
Alfred Kirkland	Northern District of Illinois	12/21/1974 - 4/30/1979			University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1941)	University of Illinois College of Law (1943)
George Leighton	Northern District of Illinois	2/4/1976 - 12/1/1987			Howard University (1940)	Harvard Law School (1946)
Phil McNagny	Northern District of Indiana	5/6/1976 - 3/28/1981				Indiana University School of Law (1950)
Mary Richey	District of Arizona	6/16/1976 - 11/25/1983				University of Arizona College of Law (1951)
Harold Cook	Northern District of Oklahoma	12/20/1974 - 1/1/1992			University of Oklahoma, B.S., 1949	University of Oklahoma Law, LL.B., 1950
Ralph Thompson	Western District of Oklahoma	10/14/1975 - 12/16/1999			University of Oklahoma, B.B.A., 1956	University of Oklahoma Law, J.D., 1961
Sidney Aronovitz	Southern District of Florida	9/21/1976 - 10/31/1988			University of Florida (1942)	University of Florida College of Law (1943)
Laughlin Waters	Central District of California	5/12/1976 - 7/6/1986			University of California at Los Angeles (1939)	University of Southern California Law School (1947)
William Ingram (California)	Northern District of California	7/23/1976 - 11/15/1990				University of Louisville School of Law, LL.B., 1950
Dick Wong	District of Hawaii	4/25/1975 - 12/26/1978			University of Hawaii (1942)	Northwestern University School of Law (1950)
Marion Callister	District of Idaho	9/1/1976 - 6/6/1989			University of Utah, B.S.L., 1950	University of Utah College of Law, J.D., 1951
Ellsworth Van Graafeiland	Second Circuit	12/21/1974 - 5/5/1985			University of Rochester, 1937	Cornell Law, 1940
Bruce S. Mencher	Superior Court of the District of Columbia	10/14/1975 - 1991			George Washington University	George Washington University
Albert Fletcher, Jr.	United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces	4/20/1975 - 9/11/1985
William Cook (U.S. Court of Appeals)	United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces	8/21/1974 - 6/30/1984
Glen Williams (Virginia)	Western District of Virginia	9/17/1976 - 11/21/1988			Milligan College (1940)	University of Virginia School of Law (1948)

Historical context

Appointments by current president

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

Since taking office, President Joe Biden (D) has nominated 252 individuals to federal judgeships on Article III courts. As of November 21, 2024, 219 of the nominees have been confirmed.^[3]

Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count report tracking vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts each month. In the most recent report covering activity in November 2024, there were 46 Article III vacancies in the federal judiciary. To learn more about current vacancies in the federal judiciary, click here.

The following chart from the monthly federal vacancy count report for November 1, 2024, details the number of appointments made by President Biden to each type of Article III federal court since taking office. This chart is updated at the start of each month with new appointments data.

Appointments since Theodore Roosevelt

See also: Federal judicial appointments by president

The following chart shows the total judgeship appointments made by each president from 1901 to 2021.

The following chart shows the judgeship appointments by court made by each president from 1901 to 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is abbreviated as USCAFC. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims, previously known as the U.S. Court of Claims, is abbreviated USCFC.

The following chart shows the average number of judicial appointments per year in office by presidents from 1901 to 2021.

The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Trump had the most appeals court appointments with 53.

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.