hen Chief Justice Roger B. Taney died in October 1864 President Lincoln named Salmon P Chase to replace him. Lincoln issued the nomination on December 6 1864. Chase was confirmed by the Senate that very day and immediately received his commission holding the office from 1864 until his own death in 1873. Chase was a complete change from the pro-slavery Taney one of Chase's first acts as Chief Justice was to admit John Rock as the first African-American attorney to argue cases before the Supreme Court