Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman ever to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, passed away Friday morning at the age of 93.
In a statement Friday morning, the nation’s high court noted that ‘O Connor’s passing had to do with “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.”
ABC News reported that O’Connor’s appointment to the Supreme Court was a first in the court’s 200 years of existence that a woman could serve.
“The law was a male thing. The Supreme Court was a male place. Merely her presence there as a woman changed everything,” said Evan Thomas, O’Connor’s official biographer.
“She was a feminist, but she didn’t call herself that,” Thomas added. “She knew that to get along with these men who were waiting for her to fail, she had to be careful but at the same time tough and strong. It was a hard balance to strike, but she did.”
In 1981, Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed O’Connor to the Supreme Court as “truly a person for all seasons.” In addition to being a constitutional conservative, O’Connor’s appointment fulfilled Reagan’s campaign promise of placing a qualified woman on the bench,…
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