John Jay became the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1789. President George Washington nominated Jay, and the Senate confirmed him as the nation's first leader of the federal judiciary's highest court.
Before joining the Court, Jay had served as a diplomat, president of the Continental Congress, and co-author of The Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. As chief justice, he presided over the Court during its formative years, when the federal judiciary was still establishing its role under the Constitution.
Jay left the position in 1795 to become governor of New York. He was succeeded as chief justice by John Rutledge on an interim basis and then by Oliver Ellsworth. John Marshall, often associated with the Court's early development, was the fourth chief justice, not the first.