George Washington is the president who appointed the most Supreme Court justices, with a total of 10 appointments to the Court.

Quick Scoop: Who appointed the most?

  • George Washington holds the all‑time record for Supreme Court appointments, with 10 justices nominated and confirmed during his presidency.
  • This was possible because the Court was brand new in the 1790s, so many original seats had to be filled at once and then refilled as justices left early.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt comes next in the record books, with 8 Supreme Court appointments across his four terms.

Mini context: Why Washington tops the list

When the federal judiciary was first created, Washington had to staff a Court that had never existed before, so he appointed multiple justices in a relatively short time. Over the centuries, as the Court stabilized and justices served longer terms, it became much rarer for any one president to get that many picks.

In modern politics, getting even two or three Supreme Court appointments is seen as a huge legacy move for a president, which shows how extraordinary Washington’s 10 appointments really are.

HTML table: Top Supreme Court appointing presidents

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>President</th>
      <th>Number of Supreme Court appointments</th>
      <th>Notable context</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>George Washington</td>
      <td>10</td>
      <td>First president; had to fill an all-new Supreme Court and early vacancies.[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Franklin D. Roosevelt</td>
      <td>8</td>
      <td>Long-serving president (four elections), reshaped the Court during and after the New Deal era.[web:1][web:3][web:9]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>William Howard Taft</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>Later became Chief Justice himself; oversaw several key appointments.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Andrew Jackson</td>
      <td>5</td>
      <td>Appointed multiple justices during a period of expansion and political conflict.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Abraham Lincoln</td>
      <td>4</td>
      <td>Made several appointments during the Civil War era.[web:1]</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Forum-style angle & “latest news” flavor

In ongoing forum discussions about which president appointed the most Supreme Court justices , people often point out that no modern president is likely to touch Washington’s record because:

  • Justices serve longer today, often decades, so vacancies are rarer.
  • Modern presidencies are usually limited to eight years, while early and mid‑20th century presidents like FDR had unusually long tenures.

Recent “latest news” conversations about the Court tend to focus less on raw numbers and more on how a few appointments can shift ideological balance for a generation, which is why presidents with only two or three appointments can still have an outsized impact.

TL;DR

George Washington appointed the most Supreme Court justices—10 in total—with Franklin D. Roosevelt in second place with 8.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.