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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 (not a Constitutional responsibility).

List of 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.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chief Justice of the United States".

Chief Justice of the United States

Duties

List of Chief Justices

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