[296]

Supreme Court appointments

Supreme Court Justices

Justice

Nominated

Appointed

Noah Haynes Swayne

January 21, 1862

January 24, 1862

Samuel Freeman Miller

July 16, 1862

July 16, 1862

David Davis

December 1, 1862

December 8, 1862

Stephen Johnson Field

March 6, 1863

March 10, 1863

Salmon Portland Chase (Chief Justice)

December 6, 1864

December 6, 1864

Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known."[295] Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne was an anti-slavery lawyer who was committed to the Union. Samuel Freeman Miller supported Lincoln in the 1860 election and was an avowed abolitionist. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. Democrat Stephen Johnson Field, a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Finally, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, became Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist, would support Reconstruction legislation, and that his appointment united the Republican Party.