precedents and significantly changed the methods of pleading that Blackford was accustomed to. Blackford continued serving on the Supreme Court until the new state Constitution of 1851 made the position of justice an elected office. He sought the nomination at the Whig convention to run to keep his seat, but his lack of political experience led to his defeat. In total he had been on the Supreme Court for over thirty-five years, seven and a half years longer than any other justice in state history. As late as 1930, he remained the longest serving jurist in any position in the United States, with 12,899 days of service on the court. Later years Blackford still desired to be associated with the court so he could write the court reports. He was successfully nominated to run for the position of court reporter on the Whig ticket in 1853, but was defeated in the election by future Vice President of the United States Thomas Hendricks. After being defeated in his second election attempt after leaving the court, he briefly returned to private life. In 1854, he sought the nomination to run for Congress, but he lost the Democratic Party primary, again to Thomas Hendricks. Instead the party nominated him to run for the Indiana Senate, but he was defeated in the general election by the a People's Party candidate; The people's party subsequently merged with the newly formed Republican Party. He opened a law office and took on one case which he argued before Judge David Wallace. He stumbled in making his arguments as he was unaccustomed to speaking publicly and he lost the case. He found the change of position embarrassing and was occasionally offended by the public and the court system for not showing him what he considered due respect. After the loss of his case he closed his law office. Federal judicial service With the aid of his friends, he sought to return to the bench. He had already become nationally renowned for his reports, and his availability to become a federal judge was reported to President Franklin Pierce. Congress created the Court of Claims (later the United States Court of Claims) to sit in Washington, D.C. in 1855. Blackford was nominated by President Pierce, who remarked that there was no better qualified candidate in the nation, on March 3, 1855, to the Court of Claims, to a new seat