Samuel Chase was a strong supporter of the American Revolution, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, an ardent Federalist, and the only Supreme Court Justice ever to be impeached. A lawyer by profession, in 1796 he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by president Washington. This was after he served as Chief Justice of the General Court of Maryland in 1791. In 1804, for alleged prejudice against the Jeffersonians in treason and sedition trials. The senate, however, in a decision that indicated reluctance to remove judges for purely political reasons, did not convict him, and he remained on the court until his death.