John Jay
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May 14, 2018 · From 1761 until the 1780s, he enjoyed success as a lawyer, politician, Revolutionary War leader, and judge in South Carolina. His prominence at the Constitutional Convention —and his role in opposing British rule—brought him national fame and made him a favorite of President george washington.
Rutledge died on June 21, 1800 in Charleston. Read about how U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Rutledge got to the Court, including his education, career, and confirmation process.
Rutledge was one of the drafters of the state constitution of 1776 and was elected president (governor) of South Carolina in March 1776. Under his leadership, the new state repulsed a British attack on Charleston in June 1776 and suppressed a Cherokee uprising later that summer.
Associate Justice: 1789-1791, Chief Justice: 1795. JOHN RUTLEDGE was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in September 1739. He studied law at the Inns of Court in England, and was admitted to the English bar in 1760. In 1761, Rutledge was elected to the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly.
The new government under the Constitution soon lured Rutledge. He was a Presidential elector in 1789 and Washington then appointed him as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but for some reason he apparently served only a short time.
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.
To succeed Jay, President Washington chose John Rutledge, a South Carolinian who had earlier served as an Associate Justice on the Court. Washington noted that Rutledge would receive his temporary commission when he arrived in Philadelphia to attend the Supreme Court’s term in August.
