Established by Article III of the Constitution, the Court was organized by the 1st United States Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789, which specified its original and appellate jurisdiction, created 13 judicial districts, and fixed the size of the Supreme Court at six, with one chief justice and five associate justices.
[2] Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution grants plenary power to the president of the United States to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the United States Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court.
[4] Of the 37 that were unsuccessful, 11 nominees were rejected in Senate roll-call votes, 12 were withdrawn by the president, and 14 lapsed at the end of a session of Congress.
Three presidents—William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and Jimmy Carter—did not make any nominations, as there were no vacancies while they were in office, while one president, Andrew Johnson, did not make any successful nominations, as Congress decided to reduce the size of the Supreme Court rather than consider his nominee to fill a vacancy.
Not included in the table are intended nominees, announced presidential selections whose names were withdrawn prior to being formally submitted to the Senate,[A] as such persons were never officially nominated to the Court.