Every Failed Supreme Court Nomination
The Senate’s graveyard: 45 nominations that ended in rejection, silence, withdrawal — or a confirmation nobody used.
45 Supreme Court nominations have failed, involving 40 people — more than one in four of all nominations in the Court’s history. The record-holder is John Tyler, with eight failures; the worst drubbing was Alexander Wolcott’s 9–24 rejection in 1811; and the strangest fate belongs to Edwin Stanton, confirmed 46–11 and dead four days later. Six of the failed eventually made it to the bench — including a Chief Justice named Roger Taney and another named John Roberts.
How many Supreme Court nominations have failed?
45 nominations, involving 40 different people — more than one in four of all nominations ever sent to the Senate. 25 were voted down or postponed to death, 11 were withdrawn, 8 were confirmed but never served, and one — Merrick Garland's — simply expired. Six of the forty eventually reached the Court anyway.
Which president had the most failed Supreme Court nominations?
John Tyler, and it is not close: eight failed nomination attempts in 1844–45 — John C. Spencer twice, Reuben Walworth three times, Edward King twice, and John M. Read — before and after his single success, Samuel Nelson. Washington and Grant are tied for second with four each, though three of Washington's were confirmations his nominees declined.
Who was rejected by the biggest margin?
By ratio, Alexander Wolcott in 1811 — 9 votes to 24, a Connecticut customs collector deemed unfit for the bench. By raw no-votes, Robert Bork in 1987, rejected 42–58 after hearings that turned his surname into a verb. The closest rejection was John J. Parker in 1930, who lost by two votes, 39–41 — the only rejection in the 74 years between 1894 and 1968.
Has anyone been confirmed and still never served?
Eight men — the Senate said yes and they never sat. Most declined: Robert Harrison (1789), William Cushing (1796), John Jay (1800), Levi Lincoln and John Quincy Adams (1811), William Smith (1837), and Roscoe Conkling (1882), the last ever to turn down a confirmed seat. The strangest case is Edwin Stanton, confirmed 46–11 on December 20, 1869 — and dead four days later, a justice-to-be who never took the oath.
Who failed first but made it to the Court later?
Six of the forty: William Paterson (a four-day technicality), Roger Taney (blocked for associate justice in 1835, confirmed as Chief Justice in 1836), Stanley Matthews (stalled under Hayes, confirmed under Garfield by 24–23, the narrowest margin ever), Pierce Butler, John Marshall Harlan II, and John Roberts — whose associate-justice nomination was withdrawn only so he could be renominated for Chief Justice.
Folklore of the graveyard
The list keeps its own strange company. John Rutledge is the only sitting recess Chief Justice ever rejected — the blow, by contemporary accounts, broke him. John Quincy Adams declined a confirmed seat and settled for the presidency. The Peckham brothers split the difference: Wheeler was rejected in 1894, and his younger brother Rufus took the next New York vacancy and served fourteen years. Henry Stanbery’s seat was abolished out from under his nomination — Congress preferred shrinking the Court to letting Andrew Johnson fill it. And the cursed seats of this site’s bibliography run straight through this page: Baldwin’s seat consumed four failed attempts before Grier, Thompson’s consumed five before Nelson, and Daniel’s — lost by Jeremiah Black by a single vote in the secession winter — waited two years for Lincoln.
The Full List, in Order
| Year | Nominee | President | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1789 | Robert H. Harrison Chose the chancellorship of Maryland instead; died months later. | Washington | Confirmed by voice vote; declined |
| 1793 | William Paterson Renominated four days later and confirmed. | Washington | Withdrawn on a technicality |
| 1795 | John Rutledgefor CJ Already serving as recess Chief Justice — the only recess justice ever rejected. | Washington | Rejected 10–14 |
| 1796 | William Cushingfor CJ Kept his associate seat instead (the declination is disputed — see his profile). | Washington | Confirmed; declined |
| 1800 | John Jayfor CJ Refused to return to a Court that lacked "energy, weight, and dignity." | J. Adams | Confirmed; declined |
| 1811 | Levi Lincoln Cited failing eyesight. | Madison | Confirmed by voice vote; declined |
| 1811 | Alexander Wolcott The worst rejection ratio in Court history. | Madison | Rejected 9–24 |
| 1811 | John Quincy Adams Declined from St. Petersburg — and became President instead. | Madison | Confirmed by voice vote; declined |
| 1828 | John J. Crittenden Trimble's seat, held hostage for Jackson — it went to McLean. | J.Q. Adams | Postponed 17–23 |
| 1835 | Roger B. Taney Blocked for Duvall's seat — confirmed as Chief Justice a year later. | Jackson | Postponed 21–24 |
| 1837 | William Smith Turned down the new ninth seat; it went to McKinley. | Jackson | Confirmed 23–18; declined |
| 1844 | John C. Spencer The first casualty of Tyler's nomination wars. | Tyler | Rejected 21–26 |
| 1844 | Reuben H. Walworth First of his three failed nominations — a record. | Tyler | Tabled 20–27; withdrawn |
| 1844 | Edward King First try at Baldwin's cursed seat. | Tyler | Tabled 18–29 |
| 1844 | John C. Spencer Second attempt; no action taken. | Tyler | Withdrawn |
| 1844 | Reuben H. Walworth Second attempt. | Tyler | No action |
| 1844 | Reuben H. Walworth Third and final attempt. | Tyler | Tabled; withdrawn |
| 1844 | Edward King Second attempt. | Tyler | Tabled; withdrawn |
| 1845 | John M. Read Tyler's last try; the seat waited for Grier in 1846. | Tyler | No action |
| 1845 | George W. Woodward Sunk by his own state's senator; Polk then offered the seat to Buchanan. | Polk | Rejected 20–29 |
| 1852 | Edward A. Bradford First of Fillmore's three lame-duck failures for McKinley's seat. | Fillmore | Tabled |
| 1853 | George E. Badger A sitting senator, postponed by one vote by his own chamber. | Fillmore | Postponed 25–26 |
| 1853 | William C. Micou The seat went to Campbell — at the sitting justices’ own request. | Fillmore | No action |
| 1861 | Jeremiah S. Black Daniel's seat, lost by one vote in the secession winter; it waited for Lincoln. | Buchanan | Rejected 25–26 |
| 1866 | Henry Stanbery Congress eliminated the seat rather than let Johnson fill it. | A. Johnson | No action; seat abolished |
| 1869 | Ebenezer R. Hoar Punished for opposing patronage; the seat went to Bradley. | Grant | Rejected 24–33 |
| 1869 | Edwin M. Stanton Died four days after confirmation — confirmed, never seated. | Grant | Confirmed 46–11; died |
| 1873 | George H. Williamsfor CJ The Chief Justiceship, sunk by an official carriage and ethics questions. | Grant | Recommitted; withdrawn |
| 1874 | Caleb Cushingfor CJ A 40-year-old letter to Jefferson Davis surfaced; withdrawn in days. | Grant | Withdrawn |
| 1881 | Stanley Matthews Renominated by Garfield and confirmed 24–23 — the narrowest ever. | Hayes | No action |
| 1882 | Roscoe Conkling The last person to decline a confirmed seat. | Arthur | Confirmed 39–12; declined |
| 1893 | William B. Hornblower Casualty of a New York patronage feud with Senator Hill. | Cleveland | No action |
| 1893 | William B. Hornblower Second attempt, same feud. | Cleveland | Rejected 24–30 |
| 1894 | Wheeler H. Peckham His younger brother Rufus got the next New York seat — and served 14 years. | Cleveland | Rejected 32–41 |
| 1922 | Pierce Butler Renominated weeks later and confirmed. | Harding | No action |
| 1930 | John J. Parker The closest rejection ever — and the only one between 1894 and 1968. | Hoover | Rejected 39–41 |
| 1954 | John Marshall Harlan II Renominated the next Congress and confirmed. | Eisenhower | No action |
| 1968 | Abe Fortasfor CJ The only sitting associate justice defeated for Chief Justice. | L.B. Johnson | Cloture failed 45–43; withdrawn |
| 1968 | Homer Thornberry Nominated for Fortas's seat, which never opened. | L.B. Johnson | Withdrawn |
| 1969 | Clement Haynsworth Jr. First rejection since Parker — for Fortas's seat. | Nixon | Rejected 45–55 |
| 1970 | G. Harrold Carswell Defended, famously, on the ground that mediocrity deserves representation. | Nixon | Rejected 45–51 |
| 1987 | Robert H. Bork The most no-votes ever cast against a nominee; his name became a verb. | Reagan | Rejected 42–58 |
| 2005 | John G. Roberts Jr. Rehnquist died mid-process; renominated for Chief Justice and confirmed. | G.W. Bush | Withdrawn |
| 2005 | Harriet E. Miers Withdrew amid opposition from the President’s own party. | G.W. Bush | Withdrawn |
| 2016 | Merrick B. Garland The only modern nomination to die entirely without Senate process. | Obama | Expired — no action for 293 days |
Methodology
Counts every nomination officially transmitted to the Senate that did not result in the nominee serving — rejections, postponements, tablings, withdrawals, expirations, and confirmations that were declined (or, in Stanton’s case, outlived). Each transmitted nomination counts separately, so Reuben Walworth appears three times and John C. Spencer twice. Recess appointments are not counted as separate nominations. Nominations never formally transmitted (such as Douglas Ginsburg’s in 1987) are excluded. Compiled from the U.S. Supreme Court Justices Database (Epstein, Walker, Staudt, Hendrickson & Roberts, 2022 release), cross-checked against the Senate’s records. Justices who ultimately served link to their profiles.