President George Washington nominates John Rutledge to be chief justice of the United States. Rutledge, who previously served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, has resigned to become chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Rutledge, however, has just given a speech denouncing the Jay Treaty, which the Senate has just approved. The outraged senators then vote 14 to 10 against his nomination, making him the first chief justice to be rejected.