Presidential Biographies | Tyler Administration - Tyler and the Judiciary

Tyler and the Judiciary

Because of his poor relations with the Whig Senate, Tyler earned the unfortunate distinction of having more Supreme Court appointees—six—rejected than any other president, past or present. When Justice Smith Thomspon died in 1843, the Senate rejected several nominees before accepting Samuel Nelson, the chief justice of the New York Supreme Court, more than a year later. Before that vacancy could be filled, another seat had opened upon the death of Justice Henry Baldwin. The Senate, preferring to have the justice appointed by the following administration (which it assumed would be Whig leader Henry Clay of Kentucky), managed to take Tyler to the end of his term without approving an appointee.

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roger Taney (1836–64) established over time a reputation for leaning toward the power of the states, but several cases during the Tyler administration contradict this...