William Howard Taft: 1909-1913

William Howard Taft was the only U.S. President who also served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Today, selecting federal judges has become increasingly problematic. In 1996, the National Commission on the Selection of Federal Judges, co-chaired by former Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach and former Deputy Attorney General Harold R. Tyler, Jr., reviewed the selection process for federal judges and outlined means for streamlining the confirmation process.

The National Commission on the Selection of Federal Judges (1996)

Read the Commission's Final Report (Adobe Acrobat)

Co-Chairs:

Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, U.S. Attorney General, 1965-1966 (Chairman, MCI, Inc.)

Harold R. Tyler, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, 1956-1960; Deputy Attorney General, 1975-1977; Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler

Commissioners:

Howard H. Baker, Jr., White House Chief of Staff, 1987-1988; U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1967-1985; Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, 1981-1985 (U.S. Ambassador to Japan; Senior Advisor, Citigroup)

Birch E. Bayh, Jr., U.S. Senator from Indiana, 1963-1981 (Partner, Venable)

Lovida H. Coleman, Jr., Special Assistant to the Attorney General, 1977-1980 (Partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, LLP)

Lloyd N. Cutler, White House Counsel, 1977-1981, 1994; Partner, Wilmer Cutler & Pickering

Fred F. Fielding, White House Counsel, 1981-1986 (Commissioner, National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States; Partner, Wiley, Rein & Fielding)

Leon A. Higginbotham, Jr., Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1977-1993 (Of Counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison)

Frederick B. Lacey, United States District Judge, 1971-1986 (Special Counsel, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & McRae)

Daniel J. Meador, Assistant Attorney General, 1977-1979 (James Monroe Professor of Law, Emeritus, University of Virginia School of Law)

Kimba M. Wood, Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1987-present (Chief Judge, Southern District, 2006)

Commission Director:

Kenneth W. Thompson, Director of the Miller Center, 1978-1998