Wikipedia:Today's featured list/February 9, 2015

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Richard Peters, Jr.
Richard Peters, Jr.

Thirty-eight United States federal judges were appointed by President George Washington during his presidency, which lasted from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. The first group of Washington's appointments began service two days after Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 to formally establish the federal judiciary. Washington's last court appointee received his commission twelve days before the end of Washington's presidency. As the first President, Washington was responsible for appointing the entire Supreme Court; he appointed a record ten justices. Since there were no sitting justices at the beginning of Washington's term, he had the unique opportunity to fill the entire body of United States federal judges with his selections. Despite this, Washington appointed only 28 judges to the United States district courts, due to the smaller size of the judiciary at the time. Richard Peters, Jr. (pictured) served for over 36 years, the longest of Washington's appointments. (Full list...)