How many senators have become Supreme Court justices
As of December 2021, a total of nine former U.S. senators have served as Supreme Court justices:
1. Hugo Black (Alabama senator, 1927-1937, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1937)
2. Sherman Minton (Indiana senator, 1935-1941, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949)
3. Harold Burton (Ohio senator, 1941-1945, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1945)
4. Thomas C. Clark (Texas senator, 1949-1967, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949)
5. Hugo L. Black (Alabama senator, 1967-1971, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1969)
6. William H. Rehnquist (Arizona senator, 1972-1986, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1972)
7. Lewis F. Powell Jr. (Virginia senator, 1987-2012, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1971)
8. Sandra Day O'Connor (Arizona senator, 1999-2010, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981)
9. Amy Coney Barrett (Indiana senator, 2017-present, appointed to the Supreme Court in 2020) [Currently serving as a justice]
It is important to note that not all former senators who became Supreme Court justices served in the Senate immediately prior to their appointment.