Undergoing the Senate confirmation process for a presidentially appoint post can be grueling . There are ream of shape to fill out : Full financial disclosure , including all income and debt , is required . Senators size up every facet of a candidate ’s personal history ; one standard questionnaire demand for the name and contact information of a high schoolhouse schoolfellow as a extension , which can be unmanageable if you ’re 30 years past gradation twenty-four hours . A questionnaire circle by the incoming Obama administration in 2008 enquire campaigner if they ’d ever send an embarrassinge - mail[source : Calmes ] . TheFBIconducts a full investigating to launch the veracity of the selective information disclosed on these shape .
After all of that , there ’s the Senate confirmation hearing . The Constitution feed the Senate responsibleness to " give advice and consent " on presidential nominations for posts ranging from locker secretaries to ambassador to tradition officials [ source : Cornell ] . Lower position had been rubber - stump in the past , but about every presidential appointment since has faced scrutiny to avoid presidential endeavour to load agencies with cronies and supporters .
Nonetheless , New President of the United States have thousands of appointment to make . The vast legal age – but not all – is confirmed by the Senate . Here are 10 exceptions we institute interesting , in chronological order .
10. Benjamin Fishbourn
Benjamin Fishbourn , a naval military officer from Georgia , was among the first nominees to the nascent federal government in 1789 . President George Washington nominated Fishbourn to a minor post asnavalofficer in heraldic bearing of the larboard of Savannah , Ga. Every other nomination of Washington ’s had been approved by the Senate except Fishbourn ’s , making the naval policeman the first person in American history to endure an unsuccessful nomination .
What did Fishbourn do to earn such disgrace ? It turned out that Fishbourn had ostensibly previously diss Georgia senator James Gunn . To make matter worse , Gunn had another campaigner in mind . Gunn led the charge against Fishbourn ’s nomination , which was quickly drop .
The rejection of Fishbourn – in addition to it being the first – is notable for two other reasons . It deploy the custom of senatorial courtesy , a tradition which continues today . Under it , senator rely on the judgment of confrere from an unknown candidate ’s plate land . A senator from the campaigner ’s state can in effect give the pollex up ( or down ) , and the rest of the Senate follows suit . second , Washington sent a letter to Congress asking why they ’d rejected a humankind he find " irreproachable " [ author : Washington ] . Before Congress could respond , however , Washington withdraw his petition for an account , found the tradition that the president need n’t supply a reason for nomination , or the Senate for rejection .
9. Caleb Cushing
Caleb Cushing has the dubitable distinction of being block by the Senate from presidential appointment more than any other mortal in the history of the United States . Harvey Cushing was rejected not once , not twice , but four times .
Cushing was nominated to become President John Tyler ’s United States Treasury repository in March 1843 . Both man faced stiff enemy . Tyler had break with the Whig party that had elect him to the administration two geezerhood earlier , and the Whigs see to it the Senate . Cushing was himself a fellow member of the House and had alternately supported , then voted against , Tyler ’s anti - Whig vetoes . Not divert with his flip - flopping , the Senate voted against Cushing ’s nomination . Tyler resubmitted Cushing as his treasury nominee , and again it was defeated . subsequently that same day , Tyler again resubmitted Cushing ’s name , and again , the Senate repel him – for the third time in a single day
Unfortunately , Caleb Cushing ’s streak of political uncollectible luck would cover . Thirty years by and by , President Ulysses S. Grant nominated him for chief justice of the Supreme Court . This time , it was the Republicans who settle him by level off allegations that Cushing advised Confederate chairwoman Jefferson Davis during the Civil War . Cushing finally go away Washington , appointed by President Grant as ambassador to Spain .
8. Ebenezer Hoar
In addition to his excellent name , Ebenezer Hoar deserve remembrance for being a qualified nominee whose appointment was block for doing the right thing . A Harvard - train lawyer , Hoar was a former Massachusetts Supreme Court justice and served under President Ulysses S. Grant as attorney general . In that position , he had openly and systematically criticized phallus of the Senate who favor politically biased Supreme Court appointment . Hoar wanted to fill the court of justice with extremely well - certified and salvia members , rather than those who could play along with Congress .
When Grant submitted Hoar ’s name to Congress in 1869 for an date as Supreme Court justice , the senator Hoar had criticise so in public cobbled together enough votes to block up him taking his seat with a 24 to 33 vote [ seed : U.S. Senate ] . The move was somewhat ironic , as Hoar met even his own hard-and-fast qualification for the seat . Even worse , the Senate ’s rejection of Hoar ’s nomination to the Supreme Court revealed enough acerbity between him and the Senate that President Grant dismiss Hoar from his post as attorney full general .
7. Abe Fortas
It ’s not that Abe Fortas was an unqualified candidate . As an associate Justice Department of the Supreme Court , he was capable of filling the role as principal Department of Justice . Unfortunately , some bad relocation by Lyndon B. Johnson , the United States President who nominated him to the position in 1968 , designate his luck .
Johnson erroneously adopt that Fortas would be confirmed with minuscule controversy . After all , he was counting on the support of his Senate wise man , Richard Russell of Georgia , as well as that of Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen . Unfortunately , Johnson had managed to irritate fellow Democrat Russell by fail to deliver a Union juridical appointment for one of Russell ’s supporters . That , combined with appointing an unqualified friend to fulfill Fortas ' associate seat once his nomination was confirm , was too much presumptive arrogance for the Senate to bear . The body turn down Fortas ' nomination , which would raise to be a adept move later on . Fortas maintain his original associate justice seat until he was impel to vacate early on in the Nixon organisation under allegations of questionable fiscal dealings .
6. G. Harrold Carswell
G. Harrold Carswell , a Florida judge of confutable experience and qualification , serve as a thumb to the nose of the U.S. Senate , sent courtesy of President Richard Nixon . Nixon nominate Carswell after the Senate rejected Clement Haynsworth , Nixon ’s first choice to occupy Abe Fortas ' nates on the Supreme Court .
The Senate rejected Carswell after allegation of racism rise up . Ironically , the most memorable histrion in this entire saga was n’t Carswell , but an advocator of his , Nebraska senator Roman Hruska . During Senate debate over Carswell ’s nominating speech , Hruska gave a memorable , if unhelpful , speech on Carswell ’s behalf . Hruska remarked : " Even if he is mediocre there are a quite a little of second-rate judges and mass and lawyer . They are entitled to representation , are n’t they , and a short chance ? " [ reservoir : U.S. Senate ] .
5. Theodore Sorensen
When President Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976 , the Director of Central Intelligence , a man named George H.W. Bush ( who would later become the 41st president of the United States ) resigned his place . To substitute Bush , Carter pick out former Kennedy speechwriter Theodore Sorensen . This family relationship was great for establishing political connections , but not necessarily for the experience that a qualifiedCIAdirector should have .
To make thing worse , Sorensen helped countermine his own nomination when he hinted to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence ( which provides legislative oversight of the CIA and keep back confirmation hearings for top CIA officials ) , that he did n’t take the appendage senator very gravely . When ask to appear before the committee prior to the listening , Sorensen responded , " I ’m pretty busy . I do n’t opine I have the time " [ generator : Sinder ] . face with the ire of the Senate committee , he withdrew his nominating speech soon thereafter .
4. Robert Bork
Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork carried on the long - standing tradition of Supreme Court campaigner rejected by the Senate in the final year of a presidential term . The Senate tends to be uncomfortable with an outgoing president installing an appointee into a lifelong location of great power , but Bork also broke raw ground in the public realm . Both veracious - fender supporters and left - wing opponents set in motion packaging run for and against Bork ’s nomination . It was a hand-to-hand struggle match to characterise Bork either as a trounce conservative who would upset flashpoint rulings like Roe v. Wade or as a wise and degree - headed moderate . The left wing won .
A calendar month before Bork ’s hearing , the president of the Senate Judiciary Committee , Sen. Joe Bidenof Delaware , publicly say he contrive on vote against the Bork nomination [ rootage : Lamar , et al ] . Sen. Ted Kennedy , who vehemently opposed Bork ’s nomination , said in a televised speech , " Robert Bork ’s America is a land where women will be forced into back - alley abortions , blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters , rogue police would break down citizens doors in midnight raids , schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution " [ source : Tushnet ] . It go downhill from there .
To his credit , Bork did n’t take away his name . Instead , he endured a painful confirmation auditory sense before ultimately being reject . Afterward he said he was " beaming the argumentation took place " [ origin : glasshouse ] . He went on to become a political and judicial critic and commentator .
3. John Tower
John Tower was only four years into his retreat from a 24 - twelvemonth life history as a Texas senator when new elect President George H.W. Bush put forward him for secretary of defense in 1989 . Four years , it turned out , was n’t quite long enough to barf the Senate of Tower ’s legion of enemies .
Tower ’s former colleagues , who ’d been the recipient of Tower ’s abusive legislative tactics in the Senate , " burn [ him ] at the stake , " Tower later wrote of the confirmation listening in a memoir [ source : Waldman ] . The Senate Armed Services Committee , led by Georgia senator Sam Nunn , laid barren all of Tower ’s past indiscretions , including undue drinking and womanizing . Tower ’s hearings generated intense media exposure and the fact that he ’d been pilloried by the same Senate citizens committee he ’d chaired before his retirement left Tower bitter [ source : Waldman ] .
Tower ’s nominating address was winnow out by a 47 to 53 voter turnout . He became the first initial Cabinet nominee in a new presidency in U.S. history to be rejected [ source : U.S. Senate ] .
2. Dr. Henry Foster
In 1994 , President Bill Clinton asked his surgeon general , Dr. Joycelyn Elders to leave office . Elders , a controversial material body among conservatives for her persuasion on spicy topics like drug and abortion , expended her last bit of political capital on her reply to a question about onanism . Elders favour teach it in schools : " We have try ignorance for a very long time , and it ’s time we try instruction , " she say [ source : Jet ] .
Clinton nominee as Elders ' replacement was Dr. Henry Foster , an obstetrician - gynecologist from Tennessee . Foster became the subject of intense senatorial debate within the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee ( the group responsible for for confirm surgeons cosmopolitan ) over his past as a physician . Foster told the committee that he ’d do 39 abortions during his career , which left a bad taste in the mouths of pro - life Senate conservative , led by Kansas senator Robert Dole .
Dole enunciate the Conservative guide elision at Clinton ’s efforts at painting " pro - life supporters as extremists " in an effort to gather support for Elders ' nomination by turning the tables on the opposite [ author : Jehl ] . The United States finally went without a surgeon ecumenical for four years , until 1998 , when the Senate substantiate Dr. David Satcher .
1. Linda Chavez
fresh elect president George W. Bush ’s choice for Labor Secretary when he take office in 2001 turned out to be a contentious one . Bush nominated Linda Chavez , a conservative editorialist and author and founder of the Center for Equal Opportunity , who vocally and staunchly oppose unionised labor unions .
Chavez ’s designation revealed the very active role the medium plays in modern political sympathies . Within days of her nomination in January 2001 , tidings reports surface of her family relationship with a Guatemalan cleaning woman she knew was repose in the United States ] illegally and whom Chavez allow to live in her home for two class in the early 1990s . The central issue was whether money Chavez had throw the woman was Greek valerian to help a charwoman in need , as Chavez alleged , or if it amounted to salary for an illegal immigrant housekeeper [ source : Schmitt and McLean ] . The issue was never full resolved . The media limelight caused Chavez to back away her name from consideration one week after she was nominate , blaming the " ' search and destroy ' political relation of Washington " and Democrats seek retribution after their narrow defeat in the 2000 presidential election [ source : CNN ] .
