June 13, 1967

Thurgood Marshall Supreme Court nomination

President Johnson nominates Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court

The document that sent Thurgood Marshall toward the Supreme Court ran one sentence. By nightfall he was a historic nominee — and still the solicitor general.

Noon in the Rose Garden

At 12 noon on 13 June 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the White House Rose Garden and told reporters he would send the Senate the name of his solicitor general, Thurgood Marshall, for associate justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall was standing there with him.

Johnson identified the opening as the seat vacated by Justice Tom C. Clark's resignation, and said Marshall had earned and deserved the appointment.

One sentence to the Senate

The White House transmitted the formal nomination the same day. The document names “Thurgood Marshall, of New York” and runs a single sentence.

That made Marshall the first African American nominated to the Supreme Court. It did not make him a justice: the Senate's advice and consent still had to come.

What June 13 did not settle

Nomination, confirmation, commissioning and the judicial oaths were four separate steps. Marshall remained solicitor general when the day ended, with hearings and a Senate vote still ahead.

The Senate confirmed him 69–11 on 30 August 1967, and he took the Supreme Court oaths on 2 October. Johnson's own announcement carried an error that day, describing Marshall's former bench as the “Court of Appeals for the State of New York” when he had served on the federal Second Circuit.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

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