Federal judges nominated by John Adams

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

John Adams, President from 1797-1801

John Adams was president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. During his time in office, Adams made 22 successful nominations to the federal bench, where the nominee was confirmed and received their judicial commission. Eleven nominations were unsuccessful–seven nominees declined their nomination, one confirmed nominee did not receive their judicial commission, and three of the vacancies did not occur.^[1]^[2]

During his term as president, the U.S. Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 which increased the number of federal judgeships available to Adams to fill. Adams spent his final days in office filling the newly created positions. Collectively, these appointments are referred to as the "midnight appointments." Adams' successor President Thomas Jefferson removed some of these judges when he became president.^[3]

List of judges

Judge	Final post:	Term:	Previous Post:	Term:	Bachelors:	Law:
John Marshall (Supreme Court)	Supreme Court	1/31/1801-7/6/1835				Read law, 1780
Bushrod Washington	Supreme Court	12/20/1798 - 11/26/1829			College of William and Mary, 1778	Read law, 1784
Benjamin Bourne	United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802	District of Rhode Island	12/22/1796 - 2/20/1801	Harvard College, 1775	Read Law
Samuel Hitchcock	District of Vermont	1/28/1794 - 2/20/1801			Harvard College (1777)
John A. Lowell	United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit	2/20/1801 - 5/6/1802	District of Massachusetts	9/26/1789 - 2/20/1801	Harvard, 1760	Read law, 1763
James Winchester	District of Maryland	12/10/1799 - 4/5/1806
William Cranch	United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia	2/24/1806 - 9/1/1855			Harvard College, 1787	Read law, 1790
John Davis (District of Massachusetts)	District of Massachusetts	2/20/1801 - 7/10/1841			Harvard College, 1781	Read law, 1786
John Sloss Hobart	United States District Court for the District of New York	4/12/1798 - 2/4/1805	Supreme Court of the State of New York	1777-1798	Yale, 1757
James Markham Marshall	United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia	3/3/1801 - 11/16/1803
Alfred Moore (U.S. Supreme Court)	Supreme Court	12/10/1799-1/26/1804	North Carolina Superior Courts	1798		Read law, 1775
Elijah Paine	District of Vermont	3/3/1801 - 4/1/1842			Harvard College (1781)	Read law (1784)
Jeremiah Smith	United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit	2/20/1801 - 5/6/1802				Read law, 1786
Richard Bassett	United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802				Read law
Egbert Benson	United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802			Kings College	Read law
William Griffith	United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802			Kings College	Read law
Philip Barton Key	United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802			Middle Temple, London, England (1784)	Read law (1785)
Charles Magill	United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit	2/24/1801 - 7/1/1802				Read law
William McClung	United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit	2/24/1801 - 7/1/1802			Washington College (1785)	Read law
George Keith Taylor	United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802			College of William and Mary
William Tilghman	United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit	3/3/1801 - 3/8/1802			College of Philadelphia, M.A. College of Philadelphia, A.B. (1772)	Read law (1783)
Oliver Wolcott	United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit	2/20/1801 - 7/1/1802			Yale College (1778)	Read law (1781)

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.^[4]

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.