The conventional historical understanding is that after becoming Chief Justice in February 1801 John Marshall continued as Secretary of State for the remaining month of John Adams’s presidency. As I explore in my new Confirmation Tales post, the reality is somewhat different and, I think you’ll find, very intriguing.
There are all sorts of twists and turns: an exchange of letters between Marshall and Thomas Jefferson; Jefferson’s dubiously postdated authorization of Marshall; a response from Marshall that he somehow misdated by two decades; and an amusing aftermath in Marbury v. Madison.
I invite you to sign up for Confirmation Tales.