Sandra Day O'Connor was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who made history as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and serving until her retirement in 2006. Born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas, to rancher Harry Alfred Day and Ada Mae Wilkey, she spent much of her childhood on the family's expansive Lazy B cattle ranch in southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico border. O'Connor graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in 1950 and an LL.B. in 1952, where she met future Chief Justice William Rehnquist. After law school, facing gender discrimination in hiring, she volunteered in the San Mateo County Attorney's Office in California, eventually becoming Deputy County Attorney. She later moved to Arizona, where she practiced law, served as an assistant attorney general, and entered politics as a Republican state legislator, becoming the first woman to serve as majority leader in the Arizona Senate. On the Supreme Court, O'Connor was known for her moderate conservative (centrist) judicial philosophy and often acted as a swing vote in pivotal 5-4 decisions on issues like abortion, affirmative action, and federalism, shaping American jurisprudence during a transformative era with an emphasis on pragmatism and incremental change. After retiring in 2006 to care for her husband John Jay O'Connor III, who passed away in 2009 from Alzheimer's disease, she remained active in civic life, advocating for judicial independence, civic education, and women's rights. She co-founded the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2009. O'Connor passed away on December 1, 2023, leaving a legacy as a trailblazer for women in law and government.