“His decision was as much a surprise to me as it was to the nation as a whole. But Ronald Reagan knew that his decision wasn’t about Sandra Day O’Connor; it was about women everywhere. It was about a nation that was on its way to bridging a chasm between genders that had divided us for too long” (Constitution Daily 4). This quote was uttered by O’Connor when giving a commencement speech talking about the gender barrier that was broken when Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court in July 1981. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first ever woman justice on the United States Supreme Court. Justice Potter Stewart retiring from the Supreme Court caused President Ronald Reagan at this time to nominate her to fill the four vacancy left on the Supreme Court. Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination by Ronald Reagan to be…show more content… O’Connor was influential in the direction of a number of key freedom rulings, including an interpretation of freedom of speech, censorship, and cases with freedom of religion. She influenced court’s decisions involving discrimination and harassment because of gender. O’Connor has continued to be a part of teaching about the government by making an online civics education program for students called iCivics. “We have a complex system of government. You have to teach it to every generation” (Biography 2). O’Connor wanted to make sure that kids today are informed about the issues going on in the government. She spoke to different to different groups around the country, continuing to weigh in on legal issues. One issue that O’Connor has worked on was giving women equal rights. She has served as a role model to women by strengthening job opportunities. She helped inspire a generation of women to pursue careers in law. “When appointed, thirty six percent of law school students were women, in 2006 the percentage had risen to forty-eight percent” (National Archives and Records Administration
