Thomas has taught high school age students for 34 years, undergraduate 12 years, and graduate courses for the last 8 years. He has a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University in Evanston, Illinois.
Sandra Day O'Connor: Biography & Quotes
Who Is Sandra Day O'Connor?
As the first female member of the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor was a role model for many. As a graduate of Stanford Law School in a field that was not always welcoming to women, O'Connor applied the work ethic that she learned at a very early age to work her way up the steps of the judicial ladder to become one of the most famous women in United States history. Read on to learn about her family life and education pathway, as well as the myriad positions she held before being nominated and elected to the Supreme Court in 1981. We'll also review some major life events and accomplishments outside of the courtroom.
![]() |
Ranch Life and Early Education
Sandra Day O'Connor was born on March 26, 1930 in El Paso, Texas. A daughter of cattle ranching parents, her early life was not easy. Her parents, Ida Mae and Harry Day, owned the Lazy B Ranch. At first, the Lazy B did not even have running water or electricity. In what was not an average childhood for a young lady in America, O'Connor grew up fixing whatever needed to be fixed and branding cattle. Although it was a tough life, she enjoyed it.
O'Connor could read by the age of four, and her parents were very concerned with her schooling. In order to afford her the best education, she was sent to live with her grandmother in El Paso. The plan was for O'Connor to spend her school months with her grandmother and summers on the ranch. She attended Radford, a school for girls, before attending Austin High School. She graduated from high school at age sixteen. As a young girl, when asked what she wanted to do when she grew up, O'Connor said, 'I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young, because it was what I knew and I loved it.'
Higher Education
Never taking the easy road, O'Connor applied for and was accepted to Stanford University in 1946. She attained a bachelor's degree in 1950 in economics and a law degree from Stanford University in 1952. Also in 1952, she married John Jay O'Connor, and the couple eventually had three sons. A law degree was unusual for a woman during this period of history, but to O'Connor it was full speed ahead.
Professional Positions
After graduation, she had a tough time finding work as an attorney. She initially worked for the county attorney of San Mateo, California, pro bono (for free). She must have done an impressive job, because shortly after, she had a paid position as the deputy county attorney.
Her next job was overseas in Germany, where she moved with her husband and worked for three years as a civilian lawyer. O'Connor returned to the U.S. in 1958 and moved to Arizona. She worked in private practice for a short time before returning to public practice. From 1965-1969, she held the position of Assistant Attorney General in Arizona.
In 1969, Governor Jack Williams asked O'Connor to fill a vacant Republican state senate seat. She was re-elected two times to that position. Then, she was ready for a new challenge.
In 1974, she was elected Maricopa County Superior Court judge. Her reputation as a judge was that she was firm but fair. When not working on the bench, she continued to firmly support the Republicans. Her next stop, in 1979, was the Arizona State Court of Appeals.
Supreme Court Justice
In 1981, President Reagan nominated O'Connor to the United States Supreme Court, and her appointment was unanimous. The United States had their first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. O'Connor was conscientious of the influence she could have and the mighty job facing her: 'If I stumbled badly in doing the job, I think it would have made life more difficult for women, and that was a great concern of mine and still is.'
![]() |
The fact that O'Connor was a Republican helped to label her as a moderate conservative on the court. As a judge, she considered each case on its own merits but tended to vote her political conservative bent. When asked if being a woman on the court would affect her decisions, she said, 'Yes, I will bring the understanding of a woman to the Court, but I doubt that alone will affect my decisions.'
She had an important vote in the 1992 Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey case, which challenged the right to abortion. The Republicans attempted to reverse the decision made in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case (which determined abortion was legal), but Justice O'Connor surprised the court when she voted to uphold the previous decision to maintain abortion's legality.
Her vote was also significant in the Bush v. Gore case, when she voted to uphold the original vote count in Florida, establishing George W. Bush as President. The Court ruled the recount on the Florida 2000 presidential election was over. Waiting any longer would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus it would be unconstitutional.
![]() |
Life Outside the Supreme Court
One of her life experiences, unfortunately, was a breast cancer diagnosis in 1988. In 1994, in a speech to the National Coalition to Cancer Survivorship, O'Connor publicly shared her battle and eventual mastectomy. As in every part of her life she just kept going. It was her husband's health that eventually removed her from the bench. She retired in 2006, partially to spend more time with her husband John, who suffered from Alzheimer's before dying in 2009. Family is very important to Mrs. O' Connor; she said that 'the family unit plays a critical role in our society and in the training of the generation to come.'
To no surprise to anyone, retirement did not slow Sandra Day O'Connor down. As a matter of fact, O'Connor said of retirement, 'I need to retire from retirement.' She developed an online program for junior high aged students. She thought our complex system of government should be explained at a level that young people understood. She wrote Finding Suzie, a children's book about a young girl growing up on a desert ranch, and The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice. O'Connor has also been very active on the lecture tour, speaking all over the United States.
Since her retirement, O'Connor has received numerous accolades for her accomplishments. President Obama honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Also, Arizona State University named its law school after the distinguished justice. In a 2000 interview, O'Connor said of our court system, 'My sense is that jurists from other nations around the world understand that our court occupies a very special place in the American system, and that the court is rather well regarded in comparison, perhaps, to their own.' When not speaking or being garnished with awards, O'Connor spends time at her home in Arizona.
Lesson Summary
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first female Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, beginning her term in 1981 and retiring in 2006. Having learned a strong work ethic from the start, she became an example for all women who may want to follow in her footsteps. She earned her law degree from Stanford Law School in 1952 and served in a number of capacities to prepare her for the most prestigious position in law in the United States. Her professional positions included: Assistant Attorney General in Arizona, Republican state senator, Arizona State Court of Appeals judge, Maricopa County Superior Court judge, and finally, the first woman Supreme Court Associate Justice! Most importantly, as exemplified in her Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling, she did what she believed to be just. Succinctly summing up her views, O'Connor once said, 'each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values.'
To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member.
Create your account
Register to view this lesson
Unlock Your Education
See for yourself why 30 million people use Study.com
Become a Study.com member and start learning now.
Become a MemberAlready a member? Log In
BackResources created by teachers for teachers
I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. It’s like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. I feel like it’s a lifeline.