Sandra Day O’Connor served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1981 to 2006. She was the first woman to serve on the Court. O’Connor was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and considered a swing vote for the Rehnquist Court through the beginning of the John Roberts Court. Before O’Connor’s tenure on the Court, she was a state judge in her home state of Arizona and earlier an elected legislator, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. During her term on the Court, O’Connor was regarded as among the most powerful women in the world. After retiring in 2006, she succeeded Henry Kissinger as the chancellor of the College of William & Mary. In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. On December 1, 2023, O’Connor died in Phoenix, at the age of 93, due to complications releated to advanced dementia. After her death, Chief Justice John Roberts called her “an eloquent advocate for civil education” and a “fiercely independent defender of the rule of law”. 

Track Listing:

1 – Ronald Reagan nomination and Confirmation Hearings

2 – Talks about childhood, college, 1st Law Job & The Court

3 – Pays tribute to Ronald Reagan’s impact on the Judiciary

4 – Speech on Women & Leadership – Boise State University

5 – Speech on Women’s Progress – Georgia State University

6 – Speaks on Fair Courts in the States and on Civics Education

7 – Law & National Security speech for American Bar Assc.

8 – Speech at National Judicial College’s 25th Anniversary