Fuller, Melville Weston

Fuller, Melville Weston, 1833–1910, American jurist, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (1888–1910), b. Augusta, Maine. He studied at Harvard law school, and after 1856 he became a prominent lawyer in Chicago and acquired a national reputation in Democratic politics. Fuller was appointed Chief Justice by President Cleveland. In his opinions he leaned toward strict construction of the Constitution. He also served as a commissioner to help settle the Venezuela Boundary Dispute and was a member (1900–1910) of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (The Hague Tribunal).