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Mar 31, 2024 · John McLean (born March 11, 1785, Morris county, N.J., U.S.—died April 4, 1861, Cincinnati, Ohio) was a cabinet member and U.S. Supreme Court justice (1829–61) whose most famous opinion was his dissent in the Dred Scott decision (1857).
Read about how U.S. Supreme Court Justice John McLean got to the Court, including his education, career, and confirmation process.
Characterized as an opportunist, John McLean’s political activism shaped his role as a justice on the Supreme Court. Born in Morris County, New Jersey, on March 11, 1785, his family settled on a farm in Ohio in 1797 after continuously moving westward. As a boy, McLean attended the county school and later earned money working as a farmhand.
John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts.
May 18, 2018 · The American politician and judge John McLean (1785-1861) was perhaps the most politically conscious justice in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. John McLean was born in Morris County, N.J., on March 11, 1785, to Fergus McLean, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian weaver turned farmer, and Sophia Blackford McLean.
McLean served on the Supreme Court for nearly thirty-two years. He died on April 4, 1861, at the age of seventy-six. Historical profiles documenting the personal background, plus nomination and confirmation dates of previous associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: John McLean.
John McLean was nominated to the Supreme Court by Andrew Jackson in 1829 and served as an Associate Justice until his death in 1861. He is known for his dissent in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) and his strong opposition to slavery. For more about John McLean's life and career, see:
