List of United States Chief Justices by time in office

This is a list of Chief Justices of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...

, known as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court until 1866. The list can be sorted by time in office or length of retirement. For incumbent Chief Justice John G. Roberts, the values below are calculated to .

Chief Justices of the United States

Rank by length of term	Chief Justice	Nominated by	Date of retirement	Length of term	Length of retirement	Date of death	Order by date
1	Marshall, JohnJohn Marshall John Marshall John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...	Adams, JohnJ. Adams John Adams John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...		12,570 days	00,000N/A	1835-07-06	4
2	Taney, RogerRoger B. Taney Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...	Jackson, AndrewJackson Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...		10,425 days	00,000N/A	1864-10-12	5
3	Fuller, MelvilleMelville Fuller Melville Fuller Melville Weston Fuller was the eighth Chief Justice of the United States between 1888 and 1910.-Early life and education:...	Cleveland, GroverCleveland Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...		07,938 days	00,000N/A	1910-07-04	8
4	Rehnquist, WilliamWilliam Rehnquist William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...	Reagan, RonaldReagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....		06,917 days	00,000N/A	2005-09-03	16
5	Burger, WarrenWarren E. Burger Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...	Nixon, RichardNixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...		06,304 days	03,194 days	1995-06-25	15
6	Warren, EarlEarl Warren Earl Warren Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...	Eisenhower, DwightEisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...		05,740 days	01,842 days	1974-07-09	14
7	Waite, MorrisonMorrison Waite Morrison Waite Morrison Remick Waite, nicknamed "Mott" was the seventh Chief Justice of the United States from 1874 to 1888.-Early life and education:...	Grant, UlyssesGrant Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...		05,133 days	00,000N/A	1888-03-23	7
8	Hughes, CharlesCharles E. Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...	Hoover, HerbertHoover Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...		04,144 days	02,615 days	1948-08-27	11
9	White, EdwardEdward D. White Edward Douglass White Edward Douglass White, Jr. , American politician and jurist, was a United States senator, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the ninth Chief Justice of the United States. He was best known for formulating the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law. He also sided with the...	Taft, WilliamTaft William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...		03,804 days	00,000N/A	1921-05-19	9
10	Taft, WilliamWilliam H. Taft William Howard Taft William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...	Harding, WarrenHarding Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...		03,129 days	00,033 days	1930-03-08	10
11	Chase, SalmonSalmon P. Chase Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.Chase was one of the most prominent members...	Lincoln, AbrahamLincoln Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...		03,074 days	00,000N/A	1873-05-07	6
12	Vinson, FredFred M. Vinson Fred M. Vinson Frederick Moore Vinson served the United States in all three branches of government and was the most prominent member of the Vinson political family. In the legislative branch, he was an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisa, Kentucky, for twelve years...	Truman, HarryTruman Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...		02,633 days	00,000N/A	1953-09-08	13
13	Roberts, JohnJohn G. Roberts	Bush, George W.G.W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....	Incumbent	0 days	00,000Incumbent	--	17
14	Jay, JohnJohn Jay John Jay John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....	Washington, GeorgeWashington George Washington George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...		02,079 days	12,375 days	1829-05-17	1
15	Stone, HarlanHarlan F. Stone	Roosevelt, FranklinF. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...		01,754 days	00,000N/A	1946-04-22	12
16	Ellsworth, OliverOliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth was an American lawyer and politician, a revolutionary against British rule, a drafter of the United States Constitution, and the third Chief Justice of the United States. While at the Federal Convention, Ellsworth moved to strike the word National from the motion made by Edmund...	Washington, GeorgeWashington George Washington George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...		01,742 days	02,537 days	1807-11-26	3
17	Rutledge, JohnJohn Rutledge John Rutledge John Rutledge was an American statesman and judge. He was the first Governor of South Carolina following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 31st overall...	Washington, GeorgeWashington George Washington George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...		00,125 days	01,649 days	1800-06-21	2

Milestone illustrations

The time frames involved in the length of service by previous holders of the office can be illustrated by comparing them to the length of time it would take for incumbent Chief Justice John G. Roberts to reach them:

To surpass the tenure of his immediate predecessor, William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...

, Roberts will have to serve as Chief Justice until Saturday, September 7, 2024. Roberts's age on that date will be .
To surpass John Marshall
John Marshall
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the United States whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches...

as the longest-serving Chief Justice in history, Roberts will have to serve as Chief Justice until Wednesday, February 29, 2040. Roberts's age on that date will be .
To surpass William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...

as the longest serving Supreme Court Justice in history, Roberts will have to serve on the Supreme Court until Sunday, April 27, 2042. Roberts's age on that date will be .

Chief Justices of the United States

Milestone illustrations

See also