Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888 TODD PEPPERS Over the long history of the Supreme Court, nominees to the highest court in the land have been opposed for a variety of rea sons. Often opponents are concerned about the nominee’s political ideology or compe tency. Occasionally, allegations are raised about political cronyism. And candidates have come under fire for their religion. But nominee Melville Weston Fuller’s selection launched a national debate that went to the very heart of what makes one qualified to sit on the Supreme Court: whether a judge should have a mustache. On March 23, 1888, Morrison R. Waite died of pneumonia after sitting for fourteen years in the Supreme Court’s center chair. Approximately one month later, President Grover Cleveland nominated Fuller to be the next Chief Justice. A prominent and highly successful Chicago attorney, Fuller was a life-long Democrat who had sported a mustache at least since 1867.1 Fuller had previously declined appointments to be on the United States Civil Service Commission and to be solicitor general. This time, however, Fuller answered the call to duty. At the time of Fuller’s appointment, it is highly unlikely that President Cleveland— himself the first president to have a mustache—anticipated that newspapers around the country would argue about the propriety of a mustached Chief Justice. After all, the previous Chief Justice wore a long and poorly trimmed beard—albeit a beard with a bare upper lip—throughout his time on the Supreme Court, and no newspaper had taken him to task.2 What difference could a mustache without a beard make? The answer was soon to come. At first, Fuller’s nomination was met with praise and the national newspapers predicted a quick confirmation. Noting the public comments made by politicians and editorial pages on both sides of the political FULLER AND THE GREAT MUSTACHE DEBATE 141 When Melville W. Fuller was appointed to the Court in 1888, the press first made note of his diminutive size, calling him “rather below middle height.” Then newspapers critiqued his mustache. aisle, The New York Times reported that “[s]ome ofthe most cordial words ofapproval of the nomination have been found in the newspapers that would naturally object to contrive objections to it” and that President Cleveland’s selection of Fuller “must be re garded as one of the most fortunate selec tions made by him since he took office.”3 The Washington Post echoed The New York Times’ assessment of the bipartisan support for Fuller, noting that one Republican senator even “spoke of Mr. Fuller in terms of admi ration almost of love.” Concluded the Post: “confirmation by the Senate is assured.”4 The New York Sun also weighed in on the nomination. The newspaper sang Fuller’s praises, telling its readers that Fuller was “preeminent in his profession, is of unim peachable integrity, and his private character is exemplary in every respect.” The article ended by providing a physical description of Fuller. [He] is a slim, wiry-looking man, rather below the middle height. He has silver-gray hair and a droop ing gray mustache. He dresses well, and is considered exception ally good looking. His face is fresh and unwrinkled, his 55 years notwithstanding.5 The Sun did not further discuss Fuller’s mustache. Nor did it appear to see the dark ening storm clouds ahead. Many local and state newspapers reprinted the Sun’s physical description of Fuller, with a few papers adding amusing comments about his weight (between 120 and 125 pounds) and his diminutive stature. “It is well that he [Fuller] will take time to get a gown made for himself before his installa tion,” commented the Boonville Standard. “If he should venture to go through the ceremony in a gown borrowed from one of his associ ates...the clerk of the court would best tie a string to him when he gets into it or there will be some difficulty to find him afterwards.”6 It was Fuller’s hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune, that first reported that peo ple were grumbling about the nominee’s mus tache. “The greatest objection that...