Wirt argued two cases on behalf of the Cherokee: "Cherokee Nation v. Georgia" and "Worcester v. Georgia". In "Cherokee Nation v. Georgia,"' Chief Justice John Marshall acknowledged that the Cherokee were a sovereign nation, stating, "he Cherokees as a state, as a distinct political society, separated from others, capable of managing its own affairs and governing itself, has, in the opinion of a majority of the judges, been completely successful." But he did not compel President Jackson to take action that would defend the Cherokee from Georgia's laws, because he did not find that the U.S. Supreme Court had original jurisdiction over a case in which a tribe was a party.