Supreme Court - Historical Background to Election Year Nominations

Here's some historical background which puts McConnell's hold on the Garland SCOTUS nomination in perspective.

Since 1950,  Twenty-Seven Justices have Left Office - only four Died. 
Four died  and 23 resigned or retired. Those who died were:

1. Fred Vinson - 1953
2. Robert Jackson - 1954
3. Rehnquist - 2005
4. Scalia - 2016. 

Of the 23 that resigned or retired, only 2 did so in an election year.

First, Sherman Minton who retired due to bad health on October 15, 1956.  Justice Brennen replaced him on October 16, 1956 - but was not confirmed until March 19, 1957.  Note: had Stevenson been elected, he would've replaced Brennan with his own choice.  

Second, in June 1968, Chief Justice Warren resigned - pending confirmation of a successor. However, lame-duck LBJ chose Abe Fortas - who had ethical problems - and the Senate refused to confirm.  As a result, Nixon appointed Warren Burger as the new Chief Justice in June 1969. Which made Earl Warren very sad. 

Summary 

Historically,  SCOTUS judge openings rarely occur in an election year.

• Judges rarely die in office, (only four since 1950) and the chances they will do so in election year are only 1 in 4.
• Retiring Judges almost never leave in a presidential election year. Only two Judges out of twenty-three did so. And Minton delayed his resignation till Oct 15th so Stevenson, (if elected) could  replace  Ike's recess appointment. 
• Earl Warren was the only Justice, who tried to "game the system." A hard-core liberal, he wanted lame-duck LBJ to appoint his successor - not Richard Nixon.  However, the Senate didn't go along.
•  Since 1950, the Senate has NEVER confirmed a SCOTUS Nominee in an election year.