Sandra Day O'Connor

 Sandra Day was born on March 26, 1930, in El Paso, Texas.  She grew up on a 198,000-acre family cattle ranch near Duncan, Arizona and in El Paso.

Accepted by Stanford University at age 16, Day earned a B.A. in economics in 1950, graduating magna cum laude.   She pursued a law degree at Stanford Law School, graduating near the top of her class in 1952.

While in her final year at Stanford Law School, Day began dating John Jay O'Connor III, who was one class year behind her.  On December 20, 1952, six months after her graduation, O'Connor and Day married at her family's ranch.

Sandra Day O'Connor served as assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 1969.  In 1969, the governor of Arizona appointed O'Connor to fill a vacancy in the Arizona Senate.  

O'Connor ran for and won the election for the seat the following year.  By 1973, she became the first woman to serve as Arizona's or any state's majority leader.  

O'Connor developed a reputation as a skilled negotiator and a moderate. After serving two full terms, she decided to leave the Senate.

In 1974, O'Connor was appointed to the Maricopa County Superior Court, serving from 1975 to 1979 when she was elevated to the Arizona Court of Appeals.

On July 7, 1981, President Ronald Reagan – who had pledged during his 1980 presidential campaign to appoint the first woman to the Court – announced he would nominate O'Connor as an associate justice of the U. S. Supreme Court to replace the retiring Potter Stewart.  Reagan formally nominated O'Connor on August 19, 1981.

On September 21, 1981 (44 years ago) O'Connor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99–0.  She served on the Supreme Court until her retirement in 2006.