WASHINGTON — Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Arizona rancher’s daughter who became a voice of moderate conservatism as the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, was memorialized by President Joe Biden on Tuesday as a pioneer in the legal world who inspired generations of women.
Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts were among those who eulogized O’Connor at Washington National Cathedral. O’Connor retired from the high court in 2006 after more than two decades, and died Dec. 1 at age 93.
The president, a longtime senator who once chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, began his remarks by recalling her 1981 confirmation hearing — a day that Biden described as momentous because of the history that she would make on the nation’s most powerful court.
He called her “a pioneer in her own right” who shattered barriers in both the political and legal worlds, along with the “nation’s consciousness.” He said that ‘her principles were deeply held and of the highest order.”
“How she embodied such attributes under such pressure and scrutiny helped empower generations of women in every part of American life, including the court itself — helping to open doors, secure freedoms and prove that a woman can not only do anything a man can do, but many times do it a hell of a lot — a heck of a lot better,” the president said.
Biden added: “Excuse my language, Father.”
Roberts, in his eulogy, also highlighted O’Connor’s trailblazing career and said her leadership shaped the legal profession, making it clear that justices were both men and women. She had a distinct style during arguments, often jumping in with a question that cut to the heart of a case, he said. That put her most important issues on the table quickly, in line with one of her favorite sayings: “Get it done.”
“She was so successful that the barriers she broke down are almost unthinkable today,” Roberts said, calling her a “strong, influential and iconic jurist.”
O’Connor was nominated in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. Largely unknown on the national scene until her appointment, she would come to be referred to by commentators as the nation’s most powerful woman.
O’Connor wielded considerable influence on the nine-member court, generally favoring states in disputes with the federal government and often siding with police when they faced claims of violating people’s rights. She twice helped form the majority in decisions that upheld and reaffirmed Roe v. Wade.