Some Possibly Interesting Statistics

[stoutfellow]

Not counting the death of Antonin Scalia, there have been fourteen occasions when a vacancy occurred in the Supreme Court, by death, resignation, or retirement, in a presidential election year.

On ten of those occasions, the vacancy was filled by the incumbent president; this includes four occasions when the presidency changed parties.

The last time the incumbent did not fill the vacancy was 1860. There have been eight such vacancies since then, all filled by the incumbent, including three occasions when the presidency changed hands.

It's true that there's been only one time in the last eighty years that an election-year vacancy was filled by the incumbent. But that was also the only time in the last eighty years that there's been an election-year vacancy.

Oliver Ellsworth, resigned 1800, replaced by John Marshall, 1801 *#
Alfred Moore, resigned 1804, replaced by William Johnson, 1804 *
Robert Trimble, died 1828, replaced by John McLean, 1829 #
Henry Baldwin, died 1844, replaced by Robert Grier, 1846 #
John McKinley, died 1852, replaced by John Campbell, 1853 #
Peter Daniel, died 1860, replaced by Samuel Miller, 1862 #
Roger Taney, died 1864, replaced by Salmon Chase, 1864 *
Samuel Nelson, retired 1872, replaced by Ward Hunt, 1873 *
William Strong, retired 1880, replaced by William Woods, 1881 *
Morrison Waite, died 1888, replaced by Melville Fuller, 1888 *#
Joseph Bradley, died 1892, replaced by George Shiras, 1892 *#
Charles Evans Hughes, resigned 1916, replaced by John Clarke, 1916 *
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, retired 1932, replaced by Benjamin Cardozo, 1932 *#
Sherman Minton, retired 1956, replaced by William Brennan, 1956 *

*: Replacement appointed by incumbent
#: Presidency changed parties