Founding Father John Jay, a towering determine among the many mental giants who solid the nation, was sworn in as first chief justice of the Supreme Courtroom of the USA on at the present time in historical past, Oct. 19, 1789.
The New York native held the title till resigning in 1795, among the many shortest tenures for the celebrated lifetime appointment.
Solely 16 different folks have held the title of Supreme Courtroom chief justice within the 227 years since.
Main the excessive court docket in its infancy was one among many unbelievable achievements by this Founding Father, a person whose contributions to the nation’s creation have been overshadowed by the years by a number of of his contemporaries.
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“John Jay crammed extra excessive places of work than another Founding Father, together with president of the Second Continental Congress, secretary of overseas affairs below the Articles of Confederation, and, most famously, the Supreme Courtroom’s first chief justice,” wrote the Nationwide Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Establishment in its reward of the foundational determine in American historical past.
“Washington noticed Jay as distinctive in his superior advantage and objectivity and appointed him chief justice with nice confidence in his {qualifications},” added the Nationwide Portrait Gallery tribute.
Portrait of John Jay (1745-1829), American statesman, patriot, diplomat, Founding Father and first chief justice of the U.S. Painted by Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828), American painter; dated 18th century. (Common Historical past Archive/Common Photos Group by way of Getty Photos)
President George Washington nominated Jay to the chief justice place on Sept. 24, after Jay first declined a proposal to function first Secretary of State.
“John Jay crammed extra excessive places of work than another Founding Father.”
The Senate unanimously confirmed him on Sept. 26.
He took his two oaths, a judicial oath and a constitutional oath, as required of all Supreme Courtroom justices, on Oct. 19 earlier than Richard Morris, chief justice of the State of New York.
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“As this was an inaugural place, lots of Jay’s duties concerned establishing guidelines, process and precedents,” writes ConstitutionFacts.com, a website run by Oak Hill Publishing, which calls itself “the worldwide chief in pocket Structure books.”
{Photograph} of the signatures and seals of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the settlement that formally ended the American Revolutionary Struggle between Nice Britain and the North American colonies, in Paris, September 3, 1783. From the highest, the signatures are of English politician David Hartley (1731-1813), consultant of Britain; and American politicians John Adams (1735-1826), Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and John Jay (1745-1829). (Archive Pictures/Getty Photos)
“Essentially the most well-known case he presided over was Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), mostly related to the introduction of judicial evaluate. Nevertheless, the court docket choice was later overturned by the ratification of the Eleventh Modification.”
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Jay, amongst his different nice achievements, was one among three principal authors of the Federalist Papers, together with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.
“Washington noticed Jay as distinctive in his superior advantage and objectivity.”
He helped negotiate — with John Adams and Ben Franklin — the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which formally secured recognition of American independence from the British crown and within the eyes of the world.
He was additionally a key early determine within the abolition motion.
Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts is seen previous to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union deal with throughout a joint session of Congress on the U.S. Capitol on March 1, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Roberts is just the seventeenth chief justice in U.S. historical past. (Julia Nikhinson-Pool/Getty Photos)
“To contend for our personal liberty, and to disclaim that blessing to others, includes an inconsistency to not be excused,” Jay wrote to a buddy in 1786 in one among his extra well-known quotes.
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Jay was simply 49 years previous when he resigned his place as chief justice on June 29, 1795.
“He grew to become governor of New York in 1795, organized the New York Manumission Society and helped go a gradual emancipation regulation in 1799 that led to the eventual finish of slavery in New York in 1827,” reviews George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
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“Jay left the governorship of New York in 1801 to enter retirement, and handed away in 1829.”
