The fifth Chief Justice of the United States, he succeeded John Marshall in 1836
... Then, on July 6, 1835, Chief Justice John Marshall 
died, and Taney was... [DOC] [TLE] Roger Brooke Taney - Author biographies [PAR] As Chief Justice, he wrote the court opinion for the Dred Scott case, which 
became ... 1831, he succeeded John M. Betrien as Attorney General of the 
United States.