Chief Justice Waite
| Morrison Waite | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 7th Chief Justice of the United States | |
|
In office January 21, 1874 – March 23, 1888 |
|
| Nominated by | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Preceded by | Salmon Chase |
| Succeeded by | Melville Fuller |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Morrison Remick Waite November 29, 1816 Lyme, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1888 (aged 71) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party |
Whig (Before 1854) Republican (1854–1888) |
| Spouse(s) | Amelia Champlin Warner |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Yale University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Morrison Remick "Mott" Waite (November 29, 1816 – March 23, 1888) was an attorney, judge, and politician from Ohio. He served as the seventh Chief Justice of the United States from 1874 to his death in 1888. During his tenure, the Waite Court took a narrow interpretation of federal authority related to laws and amendments that were passed during the Reconstruction Era to expand the rights of freedmen and protect them from attacks by vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Born in Lyme, Connecticut, Waite established a legal practice in Toledo, Ohio after graduating from Yale University. As a member of the Whig Party, Waite won election to the Ohio Senate. An opponent of slavery, he helped establish the Ohio Republican Party. He served as a counsel in the Alabama Claims and presided over the 1873 Ohio constitutional convention.
After the May 1873 death of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, President Ulysses S. Grant underwent a prolonged search for Chase's successor. With the backing of Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, Grant nominated Waite in January 1874. The nomination of the relatively obscure Waite was poorly received by some prominent politicians, but the Senate unanimously confirmed Waite and he took office in March 1874. Despite some support for his nomination, he declined to run for president in the 1876 election, arguing that the Supreme Court should not serve as a mere stepping stone to higher office. He served on the court until his death of pneumonia in 1888.
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