John M. Harlan
Position
Associate Justice
Seat
9
Nominated By
Hayes
Sworn In
Sunday, December 9, 1877
Left Office
Friday, October 13, 1911
Reason For Leaving
Death
Length of Service
33 years, 10 months, 4 days
Home
Kentucky
The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States (Artist: Pierre Troubetzkoy)
Biography
John Marshall Harlan was born to a civic-minded family whose members played active roles in public life. Harlan studied law at Transylvania University ("The Harvard of the West") and finished his legal education in his father's law office.
Harlan was a slaveholder and a member of the southern aristocracy, but he remained loyal to the Union over the Confederacy. Later, as head of the Kentucky delegation to the 1876 Republican national convention, Harlan helped the drive to nominate Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. A year later, President Hayes nominated Harlan to the Supreme Court.
Harlan sat longer than most justices. In his long tenure, he earned the title of "great dissenter." Always within spitting distance of a spittoon, Harlan was perhaps the last of the tobacco-chewing justices.
Clerkships
Which player's contribution to baseball best matches John M. Harlan's contribution to law?
Cite this Page
John M. Harlan. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 12 February 2012. <http://www.oyez.org/justices/john_m_harlan>.
John M. Harlan, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/justices/john_m_harlan (last visited February 12, 2012).
"John M. Harlan," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed February 12, 2012, http://www.oyez.org/justices/john_m_harlan.