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11. 835 days. Justice Henry Baldwin, an appointee of Andrew Jackson, died on April 21, 1844, creating a vacancy for President John Tyler. The Whig Party controlled the Senate and were set on keeping the vacancy open for Henry Clay, expected by the Whigs to win the 1844 presidential election. The Senate postponed or refused to act on three different nominations by Tyler and when James K. Polk defeated Clay in the 1844 election, the Whigs turned down Polk's first effort to fill the vacancy. Finally, the Senate confirmed Robert Grier, who joined the Court on August 4, 1846.