// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var SCOTUS_superlatives = new Array(); SCOTUS_superlatives.ID = "SCOTUS_superlatives"; SCOTUS_superlatives.ID_WB = 6687358; SCOTUS_superlatives.sPubDate = "10/9/2008 8:33:09 PM GMT"; SCOTUS_superlatives.navsectionID = "3032552" SCOTUS_superlatives.appFmt = 2; SCOTUS_superlatives.itemsPerPage = 1; SCOTUS_superlatives.appWidth = 460; SCOTUS_superlatives.appHeader = ""; SCOTUS_superlatives.sTitle = "Supreme Court superlatives"; SCOTUS_superlatives.appFooter = "Sources: Federal Judicial Center (www.fjc.gov); 'Justices, Presidents and Senators' by Henry J. Abraham."; SCOTUS_superlatives.appNavStyle = 3; SCOTUS_superlatives.bDhtml = 0; SCOTUS_superlatives.appLayout = 1; SCOTUS_superlatives.copyHeight = 225; SCOTUS_superlatives.copyMargin = 9; SCOTUS_superlatives[i++] = new Array("","","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""); SCOTUS_superlatives[i-1].body = "The youngest justice ever was Joseph Story, who was 32 when he joined the court in 1811. Story served for 33 years.

The oldest justice was Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was 90 when he retired on Jan. 12, 1932.

Appointed by President Roosevelt in 1939, William O. Douglas was the longest-serving justice. He sat on the court until 1975.

The shortest tenure was that of John Rutledge, to whom George Washington gave a recess appointment as chief justice in 1795. Rutledge presided for a few months and wrote two opinions before the Senate defeated his nomination by a 14 to 10 vote.

The president who had the opportunity to appoint the most justices was Washington, who appointed 11 men to the high court. The runner-up was Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed nine justices during his 13 years as president.

Of presidents who served only one term, William Howard Taft appointed the most, with six men to the court. In 1921, Taft, then an ex-president, was nominated by one of his successors, Warren Harding, to be chief justice.

Four presidents, Jimmy Carter, Andrew Johnson, Zachary Taylor and William Henry Harrison, did not have the opportunity to appoint any justices. Carter was the only one of them to serve a full four-year term.

The president who had the most Supreme Court nominees rejected by the Senate was John Tyler. The Senate voted down five of his nominees in 1843 and 1844.

Since 1789, 30 of the 144 nominees sent to the Senate for confirmation have been rejected.
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