Edward King (January 31, 1794 – May 8, 1873) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

. He was unsuccessfully nominated to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

twice.

Early life

King was born on January 31, 1794, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He was admitted to the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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in 1816. Soon after, he entered

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, initially as a

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

and later as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, eventually rising to leader of the Democratic party in Pennsylvania.

Judge

In 1825, King was named president

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. He was instrumental in establishing Pennsylvania's equity courts, thus drawing national attention to himself.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president dire ...

nominated King to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

on June 5, 1844. Because of political pressures between Tyler and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, the

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voted to postpone its consideration, and King withdrew his nomination. Tyler again nominated King on December 4. In January 1845, the Senate tabled the nomination once more. Tyler then withdrew King's nomination on February 7. King remained as president judge in the common-pleas court until retirement in 1852. That same year, he was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Later life and death

After King's retirement, he remained active in public and civic affairs. He died in Philadelphia on May 8, 1873.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Edward 1794 births 1873 deaths American jurists Lawyers from Philadelphia Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers