Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the Judicial Branch of the government of the United States, and presides over the Supreme Court of the United States. The office is often, and incorrectly, referred to as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is composed of nine members, though that number has varied over the years, headed by the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice, like all the other justices, is nominated by the President and confirmed to sit on the court by the U.S. Senate. Some justices, like William H. Rehnquist, were elevated to the highest post on the court by the President after having served previously on the bench as associate justice. Others, like William Howard Taft, were nominated to the highest bench without any previous experience on the court.

Duties

In addition to the duties of the Associate Justices, the Chief Justice has the following duties:

• If the Chief Justice is in the majority on a Supreme Court case, he or she may decide to write the Opinion of the Court, or may assign it to an associate justice of his or her choice.
• Officiates at the inauguration of the President of the United States.
• Presides when the Senate tries impeachments of the President of the United States.
  • Two Chief Justices, Salmon P. Chase and William Rehnquist, have had the duty of presiding over Presidential impeachments and trials--Chase in 1868 over the proceedings of President Andrew Johnson and Rehnquist in 1998 over the proceeding against Bill Clinton.
• Serves as the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institute.

Chief Justices

No.	Chief Justice	Years of Service	Appointed by President
1	John Jay	1789-1795	George Washington
2	John Rutledge	1795	George Washington
3	Oliver Ellsworth[?]	1796-1800	George Washington
4	John Marshall	1801-1835	John Adams
5	Roger Taney	1836-1864	Andrew Jackson
6	Salmon P. Chase	1864-1873	Abraham Lincoln
7	Morrison Waite[?]	1874-1888	Ulysses S. Grant
8	Melville Fuller[?]	1888-1910	Grover Cleveland
9	Edward Douglass White[?]†	1910-1921	William Howard Taft
10	William Howard Taft	1921-1930	Warren G. Harding
11	Charles Evans Hughes	1930-1941	Herbert Hoover
12	Harlan Stone[?]†	1941-1946	Franklin Delano Roosevelt
13	Fred Vinson[?]	1946-1953	Harry S. Truman
14	Earl Warren	1953-1969	Dwight D. Eisenhower
15	Warren E. Burger[?]	1969-1986	Richard Nixon
16	William Rehnquist†	1986-present	Ronald Reagan

† Denotes elevation from associate justice.

Related articles

• Supreme Court of the United States