On May 1, 2009, David Souter announced that he would retire from the Supreme Court on June 29, at the start of Court's summer 2009 recess. He had served as an associate justice for 19 years. This was the first opportunity for President Barack Obama, who took office in January 2009, to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. The president and his advisors had begun preparing for this eventuality since before he was sworn in as president, during the transition. After Souter's retirement plans were announced, Sonia Sotomayor received early attention as the front-runner to succeed him. Others topping the various lists of most-likely candidates included: Elena Kagan, Diane Wood and Jennifer Granholm.