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Following is a list of all Article III United States federal judges appointed by President John Adams. In total, John Adams appointed 23 Article III United States federal judges during his tenure (1797–1801) as President of the United States. Of these, 3 were appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, 16 were to the United States circuit courts, and 4 to the United States district courts. Fourteen of the sixteen circuit court judges appointed by Adams were to positions created at the end of his tenure in office, in the Judiciary Act of 1801, 2 Stat. 89, which became known as the Midnight Judges Act. All of these offices were abolished by the repeal of this Act on July 1, 1802, by 2 Stat. 132. The remaining two were to judgeships for the District of Columbia, authorized under a different Act of Congress, not the Judiciary Act.

Nonetheless, Adams made an indelible impact on the federal judiciary with the appointment of John Marshall as Chief Justice to succeed Oliver Ellsworth, who had retired due to ill health. Adams himself called this appointment "the proudest act of my life."^[1]

It is without question that the most significant impact John Adams had on the judiciary was the appointment of Chief Justice John Marshall.
William Cranch was later elevated by Thomas Jefferson to Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Circuit, and was one of the longest-serving federal judges in U.S. history.
Elijah Paine was one of two District Court judges appointed by Adams whose service surpassed the forty year mark.

United States Supreme Court justices

#	Justice	Seat	State	Former justice	Nomination date	Confirmation date	Began active service	Ended active service
1	Bushrod Washington	3	Virginia	James Wilson	December 19, 1798	December 20, 1798	September 29, 1798^[2]	November 26, 1829
2	Alfred Moore	5	North Carolina	James Iredell	December 4, 1799	December 10, 1799	December 10, 1799	January 26, 1804
3	John Marshall	Chief	Virginia	Oliver Ellsworth	January 20, 1801	January 27, 1801	January 31, 1801	July 6, 1835

Also appointed, but declined: John Jay (Chief Justice).

Circuit courts

#	Judge	Circuit	Nomination date	Confirmation date	Began active service	Ended active service
1	Richard Bassett	Third	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
2	Egbert Benson	Second	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[4]	July 1, 1802
3	Benjamin Bourne	First	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
4	William Griffith	Third	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
5	Samuel Hitchcock	Second	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
6	Philip Barton Key	Fourth	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	March 3, 1801^[5]
6.1	Philip Barton Key	Fourth	February 25, 1801	February 26, 1801	March 3, 1801^[6]	July 1, 1802
7	John Lowell	First	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[4]	May 6, 1802
8	Jeremiah Smith	First	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
9	George Keith Taylor	Fourth	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
10	Oliver Wolcott Jr.	Second	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
11	William McClung	Sixth	February 21, 1801	February 24, 1801	February 24, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
12	William Cranch	D.C.	February 28, 1801	March 3, 1801	March 3, 1801^[3]	February 24, 1806^[7]
13	Charles Magill	Fourth	February 25, 1801	February 26, 1801	March 3, 1801^[3]	July 1, 1802
14	James Markham Marshall	D.C.	February 28, 1801	March 3, 1801	March 3, 1801^[3]	November 16, 1803
15	William Tilghman	Third	February 26, 1801	March 2, 1801	March 3, 1801^[4]	July 1, 1802

Also appointed, but declined: Thomas Bee (5th circuit), Joseph Clay Jr. (5th circuit), Jared Ingersoll (3rd circuit), Thomas Johnson (D.C. circuit), Charles Lee (4th circuit), and John Sitgreaves (5th circuit).

District courts

#	Judge	Court ^{[Note 1]}	Nomination date	Confirmation date	Began active service	Ended active service
1	John Sloss Hobart	D.N.Y.	April 11, 1798	April 12, 1798	April 12, 1798	February 4, 1805
2	James Winchester	D. Md.	December 5, 1799	December 10, 1799	October 31, 1799^[8]	April 5, 1806
3	John Davis	D. Mass.	February 18, 1801	February 20, 1801	February 20, 1801	July 10, 1841
4	Elijah Paine	D. Vt.	February 24, 1801	February 25, 1801	March 3, 1801	April 1, 1842

Notes

^ See List of United States district and territorial courts

References

^ Unger, Harlow Giles (November 16, 2014). "Why Naming John Marshall Chief Justice Was John Adams's "Greatest Gift" to the Nation". History News Network. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 19, 1798, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20, 1798, and received commission on December 20, 1798.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Appointed as an Associate Judge.
^ ^a ^b ^c Appointed as Chief Judge.
^ Laterally appointed as Chief Judge of the same court on March 3, 1801.
^ Laterally appointed as Chief Judge after previously serving as an Associate Judge of the same court.
^ Laterally appointed as Chief Judge of the same court on February 24, 1806.
^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 5, 1799, confirmed by the United States Senate on December 10, 1799, and received commission on December 10, 1799.