Federal judges nominated by Harry Truman

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U.S. Federal Courts
Vacancies and Nominations
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Harry S. Truman, President from 1945-1953

140 judges nominated by Harry Truman were subsequently confirmed and served on the federal bench.[1]









List of judges[edit]

First name Last name Court Status Term
James Allred Southern District of Texas Deceased 1949 - 1959
Maurice Andrews Northern District of Georgia Resigned 1949 - 1950
Walter Bastian District of Columbia Elevated 1950 - 1954
David Bazelon District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1993
Wayne Borah Fifth Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1966
Albert Bryan, Sr. Eastern District of Virginia Elevated 1947 - 1961
Owen Burns Western District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1949 - 1952
Harold Burton Supreme Court Deceased 1945 - 1964
William Byrne, Sr. Southern District of California Reassigned 1950 - 1966
James Carter Southern District of California Elevated 1949 - 1967
Oliver Carter Northern District of California Deceased 1950 - 1976
Herbert Christenberry Eastern District of Louisiana Deceased 1947 - 1975
Bennett Clark District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1954
Tom Clark Supreme Court Deceased 1949 - 1977
Thomas Clary Eastern District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1949 - 1977
John Clifford District of Maine Deceased 1947 - 1956
William Cole Court of Customs and Patent Appeals Deceased 1952 - 1957
John Collet Eighth Circuit Deceased 1947 - 1955
Abraham Conger Middle District of Georgia Deceased 1949 - 1953
Ben Connally Southern District of Texas Deceased 1949 - 1975
Edward Curran District of Columbia Deceased 1946 - 1988
Edward Dimock Southern District of New York Deceased 1951 - 1986
Dennis Donovan District of Minnesota Deceased 1945 - 1974
Joseph Dooley Northern District of Texas Deceased 1947 - 1967
Samuel Driver Eastern District of Washington Deceased 1946 - 1958
Francis Duffy Seventh Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1979
David Edelstein Southern District of New York Deceased 1951 - 2000
Herbert Erskine Northern District of California Deceased 1949 - 1951
Charles Fahy District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1979
Philip Finnegan Seventh Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1959
James Foley Northern District of New York Deceased 1949 - 1990
Frederick Follmer Eastern District of Pennsylvania Reassigned 1946 - 1955
Frederick Follmer Middle District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1946 - 1971
Frederick Follmer Western District of Pennsylvania Reassigned 1946 - 1955
Morgan Ford Court of International Trade Deceased 1949 - 1992
Monroe Friedman Northern District of California Nomination rejected 1952 - 1953
Ernest Gibson District of Vermont Deceased 1949 - 1969
Donnell Gilliam Eastern District of North Carolina Deceased 1945 - 1960
Wallace Gourley Western District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1945 - 1976
Allan Grim Eastern District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1949 - 1965
Roy Harper Eastern District of Missouri Nomination rejected 1947 - 1947
Roy Harper Eastern District of Missouri Nomination rejected 1947 - 1948
Roy Harper Eastern District of Missouri Deceased 1948 - 1994
Roy Harper Western District of Missouri Nomination rejected 1947 - 1947
Roy Harper Western District of Missouri Nomination rejected 1947 - 1948
Roy Harper Western District of Missouri Deceased 1948 - 1994
George Harris Northern District of California Deceased 1946 - 1983
John Hartigan First Circuit Deceased 1951 - 1968
Richard Hartshorne District of New Jersey Deceased 1951 - 1975
William Hastie Third Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1976
Carl Hatch District of New Mexico Deceased 1949 - 1963
David Henderson Western District of North Carolina Resigned 1948 - 1949
Delmas Hill District of Kansas Elevated 1949 - 1961
Alexander Holtzoff District of Columbia Deceased 1945 - 1969
Frank Hooper Northern District of Georgia Deceased 1949 - 1985
George Howell Court of Claims Resigned 1947 - 1953
Jed Johnson United States Customs Court Deceased 1947 - 1963
Noble Johnson Court of Customs and Patent Appeals Deceased 1948 - 1968
John Jones Court of Claims, chief justice Deceased 1947 - 1976
Harry Kalodner Third Circuit Deceased 1946 - 1977
Edward Kampf Northern District of New York Resigned 1946 - 1958
Irving Kaufman Southern District of New York Elevated 1949 - 1961
Samuel Kaufman Southern District of New York Deceased 1948 - 1960
Richmond Keech District of Columbia Deceased 1946 - 1986
James Kirkland District of Columbia Deceased 1949 - 1958
William Knous District of Colorado Deceased 1950 - 1959
Arthur Koscinski Eastern District of Michigan Deceased 1945 - 1957
Edward Leahy District of Rhode Island Deceased 1951 - 1953
Dal Lemmon Northern District of California Elevated 1947 - 1954
Theodore Levin Eastern District of Michigan Deceased 1946 - 1970
William Lindberg Eastern District of Washington Reassigned 1951 - 1961
William Lindberg Western District of Washington Deceased 1951 - 1981
Walter Lindley Seventh Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1958
Seybourn Lynne Northern District of Alabama Deceased 1946 - 2000
Thomas Madden District of New Jersey Deceased 1945 - 1976
Rabe Marsh Western District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1950 - 1993
William Mathes Southern District of California Deceased 1945 - 1967
Burnita Matthews District of Columbia Deceased 1949 - 1988
William McCarthy District of Massachusetts Deceased 1949 - 1964
John McGohey Southern District of New York Deceased 1949 - 1972
James McGranery Eastern District of Pennsylvania Resigned 1946 - 1952
Charles McLaughlin District of Columbia Deceased 1949 - 1976
Charles McNamee Northern District of Ohio Deceased 1951 - 1964
Harold Medina Southern District of New York Elevated 1947 - 1951
Harold Medina Second Circuit Retired 1951 - 1980
Arthur Mellott District of Kansas Deceased 1945 - 1957
Shackelford Miller Sixth Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1965
Wilbur Miller District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1976
Sherman Minton Supreme Court Deceased 1949 - 1965
Alfred Modarelli District of New Jersey Deceased 1951 - 1957
Irving Mollison United States Customs Court Deceased 1945 - 1962
Edward Murphy Northern District of California Deceased 1950 - 1958
John Murphy Middle District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1946 - 1962
Thomas Murphy Southern District of New York Deceased 1951 - 1995
William Murray District of Montana Deceased 1949 - 1994
Gregory Noonan Southern District of New York Deceased 1949 - 1964
John O'Connell Third Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1949
William Orr Ninth Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1965
Joseph Perry Northern District of Illinois Deceased 1951 - 1984
John Pickett Tenth Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1983
Casper Platt Eastern District of Illinois Deceased 1949 - 1965
Walter Pope Ninth Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1969
Elijah Prettyman District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1945 - 1971
James Proctor District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1948 - 1953
Paul Rao United States Customs Court Reassigned (dec. 1988) 1948 - 1980
Leo Rayfiel Eastern District of New York Deceased 1947 - 1978
Ben Rice Western District of Texas Deceased 1945 - 1964
William Riley Southern District of Iowa Deceased 1950 - 1956
Willis Ritter District of Utah Deceased 1949 - 1978
Richard Rives Fifth Circuit Reassigned 1951 - 1981
Richard Rodney District of Maine Deceased 1946 - 1963
Robert Russell Fifth Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1955
Sylvester Ryan Southern District of New York Deceased 1947 - 1981
Francis Scarlett Southern District of Georgia Deceased 1946 - 1971
Joseph Sheehy Eastern District of Texas Deceased 1951 - 1967
Roy Shelbourne Western District of Kentucky Deceased 1946 - 1974
John Simpson Southern District of Florida Reassigned 1950 - 1962
William Sloan Northern District of Georgia Deceased 1951 - 1970
Gus Solomon District of Oregon Deceased 1949 - 1987
Howard Speakman District of Arizona Deceased 1946 - 1952
Austin Staley Third Circuit Deceased 1950 - 1978
Raymond Starr Western District of Michigan Deceased 1946 - 1968
William Steckler Southern District of Indiana Deceased 1950 - 1995
Harold Stephens District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1948 - 1955
William Stewart Western District of Pennsylvania Deceased 1951 - 1953
Louie Strum Fifth Circuit Deceased 1950 - 1954
Sidney Sugarman Southern District of New York Deceased 1949 - 1974
Hardress Swaim Seventh Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1957
Carroll Switzer Southern District of Iowa Nomination rejected 1949 - 1950
Edward Tamm District of Columbia Elevated 1948 - 1965
Robert Taylor Eastern District of Tennessee Deceased 1949 - 1987
Robert Tehan Eastern District of Wisconsin Deceased 1949 - 1975
Daniel Thomas Southern District of Alabama Deceased 1951 - 2000
Robert Thomason Western District of Texas Deceased 1947 - 1973
Thomas Thornton Eastern District of Michigan Deceased 1949 - 1985
Ernest Tolin Southern District of California Deceased 1951 - 1961
Frederick Vinson Supreme Court Deceased 1946 - 1953
William Wallace Eastern District of Oklahoma Deceased 1950 - 1960
William Wallace Northern District of Oklahoma Deceased 1950 - 1960
William Wallace Western District of Oklahoma Deceased 1950 - 1960
James Walsh District of Arizona Deceased 1952 - 1991
Wilson Warlick Western District of North Carolina Deceased 1949 - 1978
George Washington District of Columbia Circuit Deceased 1949 - 1971
Jacob Weinberger Southern District of California Deceased 1946 - 1974
Edward Weinfeld Southern District of New York Deceased 1950 - 1988
Harry Westover Southern District of California Deceased 1949 - 1983
George Whitehurst Northern District of Florida Deceased 1950 - 1974
George Whitehurst Southern District of Florida Deceased 1950 - 1974
Ashton Williams Eastern District of South Carolina Deceased 1952 - 1962
Francis Worley Court of Customs and Patent Appeals Elevated (dec. 1974) 1950 - 1959
James Wright Eastern District of Louisiana Elevated 1949 - 1962
Luther Youngdahl District of Columbia Deceased 1951 - 1978

Historical context[edit]

Appointments by current president[edit]

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

Since taking office, President Joe Biden (D) has nominated 252 individuals to federal judgeships on Article III courts. As of November 21, 2024, 219 of the nominees have been confirmed.[2]

Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count report tracking vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts each month. In the most recent report covering activity in November 2024, there were 46 Article III vacancies in the federal judiciary. To learn more about current vacancies in the federal judiciary, click here.

The following chart from the monthly federal vacancy count report for November 1, 2024, details the number of appointments made by President Biden to each type of Article III federal court since taking office. This chart is updated at the start of each month with new appointments data.





Appointments since Theodore Roosevelt[edit]

See also: Federal judicial appointments by president

The following chart shows the total judgeship appointments made by each president from 1901 to 2021.

The following chart shows the judgeship appointments by court made by each president from 1901 to 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is abbreviated as USCAFC. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims, previously known as the U.S. Court of Claims, is abbreviated USCFC.

The following chart shows the average number of judicial appointments per year in office by presidents from 1901 to 2021.


The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Trump had the most appeals court appointments with 53.


The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Bill Clinton had the most district court appointments with 169.

See also[edit]

External links[edit]


Footnotes[edit]

  1. Federal Judicial Center, "History of the Federal Judiciary - Biographical Directory of Federal Judges," accessed June 30, 2014 Select "Nominating President"
  2. These figures are limited to Article III judges. Article III judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution. They serve for life.

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