Federal judges' vocational backgrounds since the Eisenhower administration have changed mainly at the district court level and involved a fairly steady decline in the proportion of judges appointed from private practice and a corresponding increase in State judges and United States magistrate and bankruptcy judges. The increase in public sector appointments to the Federal district courts likely results from at least five factors: 1) improvements in State and term-limited Federal judiciaries; 2) gender/ethnicity/race; 3) judicial salaries; 4) the nomination and confirmation process; and 5) attractiveness of district judgeships to private lawyers. This article is a preliminary effort to assess how various factors have influenced changes in district judges' vocational backgrounds. 2 figures, 6 tables, and 41 notes