When John Marshall was appointed chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1801, the nation's highest court occupied a lowly position. There was no Supreme Court Building in the newly completed capital, Washington, D.C., so the six justices heard cases in a borrowed room in the basement of the Capitol Building. Their docket averaged 10 cases a year, mostly about shipping disputes. Over the course of Marshall's 34-year tenure as chief justice -- spanning six presidential administrations. The Supreme Court grew in prominence and power to become a true co-equal to the executive and legislative branches.