The President of the United States has rarely failed to successfully appoint a new Justice to the Supreme Court because of an impending election. However, an outgoing President Obama faces a mounting battle over his replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday, as Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argue that the late conservative’s successor shouldn’t be picked until a new president is elected. Other bench vacancies were filled during presidential election years, according to SCOTUSblog, which covers developments within the country’s highest federal court. President William Taft nominated Mahlon Pitney to succeed John Marshall Harlan on March 13, 1912 after Harlan died about five months earlier.