 The outgoing president , Fillmore , offered to nominate Benjamin , a fellow Whig , to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore 's other nominees for the post . The New York Times reported on February 15 , 1853 that " if the President nominates Benjamin , the Democrats are determined to confirm him . " The new president , Franklin Pierce , a Democrat , also offered Benjamin a place on the Supreme Court . Pierce Butler , a future Supreme Court justice , suggested in his 1908 biography of Benjamin that the newly elected senator likely declined these offers not only because he preferred active politics , but because he could maintain his law practice and substantial income as a senator , but could not as a justice . As an advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court , Benjamin won 13 of his first 18 cases . 
