Other Events:

• Occupation: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Notes:

Chief Justice, U. S. Senator, Secretary of the Treasury.



Cabinet member, Supreme Court chief justice; born in Cornish, N.H. A lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was an active abolitionist, known as "the attorney general for runaway Negroes." He served as governor of Ohio (1855--60) and was twice elected
to the U.S. Senate (Dem./Free-Soil, 1849--53; Rep., 1860--61). He resigned to serve as Lincoln's secretary of the treasury during the Civil War (1861--64). A vocal cabinet member who often disagreed with Lincoln over slavery issues and military
matters, he attempted to resign three times before Lincoln accepted his fourth offer (1864) after a radical faction called for Chase to replace Lincoln as the Republican candidate. Upon his re-election and despite their differences, Lincoln
appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1864--73). Despite his strong personal antipathy to slavery and secession, he made a number of impartial decisions during the Reconstruction and reluctantly but scrupulously presided over the
impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.