Supreme Court Firsts
The presidential firsts related to Supreme Court nominations and confirmations by the President of the United States.
Please visit the Supreme Court Confirmations fact page to learn more about the number of confirmations by president.
| President | Note | |
|---|---|---|
| First president to appoint a justice | George Washington | |
| First president to have been nominated to the Supreme Court | John Quincy Adams | Nominated by James Madison in 1811, but declined |
| First president to serve on the Supreme Court | William H. Taft | Chief Justice |
| First president to have confirmed a black Supreme Court justice | Lyndon B. Johnson | Thurgood Marshall |
| First president to have confirmed a Latin American Supreme Court justice | Barack Obama | Sonja Sotomayor |
| First president to have confirmed a Jewish Supreme Court justice | Woodrow Wilson | Louis Brandeis |
| First president to have confirmed a Catholic Supreme Court justice | Andrew Jackson | Roger B. Taney |
| First president to have confirmed a female Supreme Court justice | Ronald Reagan | Sandra Day O'Connor |
| First president to have confirmed a foreign-born Supreme Court justice | George Washington | James WIlson, Scotland |
| First president to serve a least one full term and not nominate a Supreme Court justice | Jimmy Carter |
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