Which presidential action involved appointing many Federalist judges late at night, creating lifetime appointments before the rival Jefferson took office?

• A. XYZ Affair
• B. Marbury v Madison
• C. Midnight Appointments
• D. Embargo Act

Answer: (C)

Midnight Appointments are the last-minute push by a president to shape the federal judiciary by filling many positions with Federalist judges who would serve lifetime tenure. In 1801, as his term ended, Adams rushed to sign a large number of judicial commissions before Jefferson took office, reorganizing the courts under the Judiciary Act of 1801 and ensuring Federalist influence would linger in the judiciary for years. Lifetime appointments under Article III were intended to protect judicial independence, making these late-night appointments particularly consequential. This event is distinct from the XYZ Affair (a diplomatic incident with France) and the Embargo Act (an 1807 trade policy); it’s also connected to Marbury v Madison only insofar as that later case involved one of these commissions, not the act of appointing them itself.