Sandra Day O’Connor

Date of Birth: March 26, 1930

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Biography

Sandra Day O’Connor is a pioneering American jurist who served as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, she broke significant barriers for women in the legal profession. Born in El Paso, Texas, she spent much of her childhood on a cattle ranch in Arizona. O’Connor graduated magna cum laude from Stanford University in 1950 and completed her law degree at Stanford Law School in 1952, where she finished third in her class. Prior to her Supreme Court appointment, O’Connor worked as a deputy county attorney, an assistant attorney general, and served in the Arizona State Senate from 1969 to 1975, becoming the first woman to be Majority Leader in any state senate. Her tenure on the Supreme Court was marked by her pragmatic and often decisive swing vote in many crucial cases. O’Connor’s judicial philosophy centered on judicial restraint and the importance of state sovereignty. Since retiring from the Supreme Court, O’Connor has been an advocate for civics education and judicial independence. She also founded iCivics, an interactive educational platform designed to teach students about the workings of government.

5 Interesting Facts about Sandra Day O’Connor

1. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to serve as a majority leader in any state senate.

2. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

3. O’Connor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009.

4. She founded the iCivics program in 2009 to promote civics education in schools.

5. O’Connor was the deciding vote in many landmark Supreme Court cases, including Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Bush v. Gore.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Sandra Day O’Connor

1. “The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender.”

2. “Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.”

3. “We pay a price when we deprive children of the exposure to the values, principles, and education they need to make them good citizens.”

4. “Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time.”

5. “The framers of the Constitution knew that free speech is the cornerstone of a free society.”