Since I'm not a man of details, I didn't mention specific names. However, an important change is that McLean convinced Curtis not to resign, for that would just give Buchanan the chance to appoint another Justice. So, Lincoln got an extra seat. He's likely to appoint more justices later on as well, since some seats were suppressed only because Republicans didn't want Johnson to appoint anyone. Given that Lincoln gave most of the seats OTL to known associates of his, I think, however, that most appointments are the same: Swayne, Davis, Miller, Field. Because of the timing of Taney's death, Chase was passed over and the Chief Justice is Strong instead. As for the extra seat... maybe George P. Fisher? If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to listen to them!
Hmmmm
so by Lincoln’s election the court was formed by:
Supreme Court 1861 (btw seats are ordered considering the original succession order so AJ 1 comes from the same seat occupied by the first Associate Justice appointed)
Chief Justice: Roger B. Taney (Southern Democrat/Hardliner) appointed by Andrew Jackson in 1836
Associate Justice 1: Samuel Nelson (Northern Democrat/Moderate) appointed by John Tyler in 1845
Associate Justice 2: Benjamin R. Curtis (Northern Whig/Republican) appointed by Millard Fillmore in 1851
Associate Justice 3: Robert C. Grier (Northern Democrat/Moderate) appointed by James Polk on 1846
Associate Justice 4: Peter V. Daniel (Southern Democrat/“made the other justices around him seem moderate in comparison“) appointed by Martin Van Buren in 1841 (died during the 1860 elections)
Associate Justice 5: “Vacant” but just before John McLean (Northern Democrat/Anti-Masonic/Northern Whig/Free Soil/Republican) appointed by Andrew Jackson in 1829
Associate Justice 6: John A. Campbell (Southern Democrat/Fire Eater) appointed by Franklin Pierce in 1853 (resigned in April to join the confederacy)
Associate Justice 7: James M. Wayne (Southern Democrat/Hardliner?/Moderate?) appointed by Andrew Jackson in 1835
Associate Justice 8: John Catron (Southern Democrat/Hardliner) appointed by Martin Van Buren in 1837
ok so Daniel died during the election but because of the lack of majority Buchanan couldn’t fill it (like otl) another thing to keep in mind is that Curtis not resigning is huge as it prevents Nathan Clifford from being appointed by Buchanan who stayed in the court until 1881 (and thus meant that the SC was only without a Democrat from 1881 to 1888) but anyways with Curtis and McLean resigning as soon as Lincoln takes the oath, and Daniel dead, while Campbell goes to the Confederacy this leaves 4 seats open when there were 9 justices, so we have two hardliner Southern democrats (Taney and Catron), two Northern Democrats (Nelson, Grier), the wildcard that is Justice Wayne and 4 Lincoln Republicans (I would say Noah Haynes Swayne, Samuel Freeman Miller, David Davis, problem with Fisher is that his rise to prominence as a judge came later in 1863, hmmmm, oh wait Fields was appointed to appeal to Democrats (which isn’t needed) so Fisher could replace Field as the Justice for the new seat, while Ebenezer R. Hoar the Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court could be appointed instead (Hoar was an anti slavery Whig who helped in the founding of the Free Soil Party in Massachusetts and had been appointed to the court in 1859, he would eventually become Grant’s Attorney General and was considered for the court himself).
Of course after this the court will see more shakeups as Taney dies and William Strong is appointed in his stead, Catron died in May 65 but the stress of the war could have killed him sooner otl his seat was left empty to prevent Johnson from appointing someone, for Lincoln replacing Catron I propose Bland Ballard, to explain why I will put a bit of context on his tenure as District Judge of Kentucky (otl appointed in 1861)
Ballard quickly reorganized the court and insured that the federal court system in Kentucky would continue without disruption. "His district was responsible for more indictments for treason and conspiracy than perhaps any other" and he was "regarded as fair-minded and guided by the law, not prejudice. He was opposed to slavery and strongly supported the Union". The years immediately following the Civil War saw a great increase in cases filed in the district court from questions growing out of the war, especially the internal revenue law and bankruptcy law”
I think he would make a great pick, if you were to go with this then the court should look like this:
Supreme Court 1865 (btw seats are ordered considering the original succession order so AJ 1 comes from the same seat occupied by the first Associate Justice appointed)
Chief Justice: William Strong (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863
Associate Justice 1: Samuel Nelson (Democrat/National Union/National American) appointed by John Tyler in 1845
Associate Justice 2: Ebenezer R. Hoar (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861
Associate Justice 3: Robert C. Grier ( Democrat/National Union) appointed by James Polk on 1846
Associate Justice 4: Samuel Freeman Miller (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861
Associate Justice 5: Noah Haynes Swayne (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861
Associate Justice 6: David Davis (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1861
Associate Justice 7: James M. Wayne (Democrat/National Union) appointed by Andrew Jackson in 1835
Associate Justice 8: Bland Ballard (Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1865
Associate Justice 9: George P. Fisher (Unionist/Republican) appointed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863