<P> In 1882, Chester A. Arthur nominated Roscoe Conkling to serve as an Associate Justice after Ward Hunt resigned . Conkling was confirmed, and then declined the position . </P> <P> After Conkling declined, Arthur nominated George F. Edmunds, who twice declined to serve . Arthur then nominated Samuel Blatchford, who was confirmed and accepted . </P> <P> Associate Justice Samuel Blatchford died in 1893, during the second term of Grover Cleveland . This seat was traditionally held by a New Yorker . Cleveland's first two nominees were not confirmed by the Senate; the nomination of William Hornblower was rejected by the Senate by a vote of 24--30 on January 15, 1894 . Cleveland's follow - up nominee Wheeler Hazard Peckham, was also rejected by the Senate, 32--41, on February 16, 1894 . </P> <P> By the tradition of Senatorial courtesy, other Senators generally deferred to a nominee's home state senators when evaluating a presidential nomination . The Senators from New York were Edward Murphy, Jr. and David B. Hill; Hill objected to Cleveland's nominations, and most other Senators supported Hill . Hill was a rival of Cleveland's who had lost the Democratic nomination for President to him in 1892 . </P>

The most contentious unsuccessful attempt by a president to appoint a supreme court justice involved