Melville Fuller, the eighth Chief Justice of the United States, presided over some of the landmark cases in Supreme Court history during his 22-year tenure. Born in 1833 in Maine, Fuller came from a family of Jacksonian Democrats and pursued his education at Bowdoin College, graduating in 1853. After studying law and a brief period at Harvard Law School, he was admitted to the bar.
Fuller established himself in Chicago, where he not only advanced his professional career in real estate and commercial law but also took an active role in politics. Notably, he managed Stephen Douglas’s 1860 presidential campaign—an election pivotal in the nation’s history. Furthermore, he served in the Illinois House of Representatives and participated in the Illinois constitutional convention of 1862.
President Grover Cleveland nominated Fuller to be Chief Justice in April 1888. Despite some Senate concerns about his perceived corporate favoritism and loyalty to the Union, Fuller was eventually confirmed after a three-month process. Although noted for embracing the substantive due process doctrine to uphold business rights, he was recognized for his administrative skills amidst criticism akin only to the Warren Court.
Fuller’s court is remembered for rulings such as Lochner v. New York which invalidated state laws regulating labor hours based on substantive due process, and Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., in which he penned the majority opinion voiding a national income tax. The 1896 decision of Plessy v. Ferguson is one of the court’s most infamous, establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine—later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education.
Fuller’s dissent in United States v. Wong Kim Ark demonstrates his judicial philosophy, as the case confirmed citizenship for individuals born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents—a precedent still essential today.
Fuller’s judicial legacy is complex. While he faced criticism for certain decisions favoring corporate interests, his administrative prowess on the Bench garnered respect. He died in office due to heart disease in July 1910. His legacy also lingers through his descendant, Robert Fuller, a philanthropist, who described Plessy v. Ferguson as a “self-inflicted wound” for the court, acknowledging Melville Fuller’s role in backing the doctrine of separate but equal.
For more detailed analysis of Melville Fuller’s impact, refer to the SCOTUSblog article.