Rutledge, John, 1739-1800

<p>John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additionally, he served as the first President of South Carolina and later as its first governor after the Declaration of Independence.</p>

<p>Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Rutledge established a legal career after studying at Middle Temple in the City of London. He was the elder brother of Edward Rutledge, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Rutledge served as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress, which protested taxes imposed on the Thirteen Colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain. He also served as a delegate to the Continental Congress before being elected as Governor of South Carolina. He served as governor during much of the American Revolutionary War.</p>

<p>After briefly returning to Congress, Rutledge was appointed to the South Carolina Court of Chancery. He was a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, which wrote the United States Constitution. During the convention, he served as Chairman of the Committee of Detail, which produced the first full draft of the Constitution. The following year he also participated in the South Carolina convention to ratify the Constitution.</p>

<p>In 1789, President George Washington appointed Rutledge as one of the inaugural Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Rutledge left the Supreme Court in 1791 to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas and Sessions. He returned to the Supreme Court, this time as Chief Justice, following the resignation of John Jay in June 1795. As the vacancy came during a long Senate recess, Washington named Rutledge as the new chief justice by a recess appointment. When the Senate reconvened in December 1795, it rejected Rutledge's nomination by a 10–14 vote. Rutledge resigned his commission shortly thereafter, and withdrew from public life until his death in 1800. He holds the record for the shortest tenure of any Chief Justice. His was the first Supreme Court nomination to be rejected by the Senate, and he remains the only "recess appointed" justice not to be subsequently confirmed by the Senate.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>10/11/1796 SC District 01 Lost 1.62% (-83.14%)</li>
<li>12/15/1795 Supreme Court - Chief Justice Lost 41.67% (-16.67%)</li>
<li>08/12/1795 Supreme Court - Chief Justice Acting Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>01/20/1795 SC District 02 Lost 23.74% (-5.64%)</li>
<li>10/14/1794 SC District 01 Lost 37.31% (-14.36%)</li>
<li>09/26/1789 Supreme Court - Associate Justice Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>02/04/1789 U.S. President Lost 4.35% (-45.65%)</li>
<li>02/04/1789 US Vice President Lost 8.57% (-40.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1782 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/04/1782 US President of the Congress Lost 9.09% (-54.55%)</li>
<li>12/31/1781 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>01/09/1779 SC Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>03/26/1776 SC President (Governor) Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1774 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>09/01/1774 SC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>10/06/1765 Delegate to the Stamp Act Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

RUTLEDGE, John, (Brother of Edward Rutledge and father of John Rutledge, Jr.), a Delegate from South Carolina; born in Christ Church Parish, S.C., in 1739; pursued classical studies; studied law in Charleston and later at the Middle Temple in London; returned to Charleston, S.C., and commenced practice in 1761; elected to the provincial assembly in 1762; attorney general pro tempore in 1764 and 1765; delegate to the Stamp Act Congress at New York City in 1765; continued the practice of law; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1775; served as president and commander in chief of South Carolina 1776-1778 and as governor 1779-1782; again a Member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783; elected one of the state chancellors in 1784; delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and signed the Constitution; member of the state ratification convention in 1788; received the electoral vote of South Carolina for vice president in 1789; Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court 1789-1791; elected chief justice of South Carolina in 1790 and served until 1795, when he resigned; nominated in 1795 to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and presided at the August term, but the Senate on December 15, 1795, refused to confirm him; died in Charleston, S.C., July 23, 1800; interment in St. Michael's Churchyard.