"We don't recruit women"
1930, O'Connor was born in an Arizona A large rancher family with 160,000 acres (64,000 hectares) of land and 2,000 livestock. O'Connor's parents agreed to their daughter's motivation to learn the law was very utilitarian - they purely hoped that they could have their own help when doing business. No one expected that this girl would become the first female justice in the United States in the future.
O'Connor was able to repair fences, ride horses and herd sheep when he was 8 years old, and then he learned to shoot rifle and drive trucks.
Because of its remote location, O'Connor, who was the eldest daughter, had no playmates when he was a child, her mother spent several hours a day reading " Wall Street Journal ", "Los Angeles Times", "New Yorker", "Saturday Evening News" to her daughter... News and editorials replaced fairy tales and became O'Connor's enlightenment textbook.
▲O'Connor was already a good rider at the age of 8. At the age of 16, O'Connor entered Stanford University and obtained a degree in economics with outstanding results. Afterwards, she went to the law school to study and became a classmate of William Remquist, who later became the Supreme Court justice.
▲The 16th Chief Justice William Remquist (center), who stepped down and died in 2005, is said to have dated O'Connor when he was a student
1952, O'Connor graduated from law school with the third place among 102 students. In the same year, she married classmate John Jay O'Connor.
As two women of similar age, Justice O'Connor and Justice Ginsburg had very similar early experiences. In the 1950s, when there was no political correctness, they all achieved excellent results in in the law school, where there were few girls, but was turned away several times by law firms due to gender reasons.
▲Although the political tendencies are different, Justice O'Connor and Justice Ginsburg are colleagues and close friends
After graduation, O'Connor was determined to be a lawyer, but the reply from the cover letter sent out was the same: "We don't recruit female employees." When she tried her best to get an interview opportunity for and law firms, the law firm's partners frowned and said, "We never hire female lawyers. What do you think of coming here to be a secretary?"
Ginsburg, who is 3 years younger than O'Connor, is not much better. After graduating from Harvard University, a professor at the Law School recommended that Ginsberg, who could not find a job in a law firm, go to the Supreme Court to be an assistant. Justice Frankfort responded without hesitation: "I never hire women as assistants."
Who would have thought that these two women who were considered by elite men to be only worthy of being secretary and assistants, became the only justices who had the ultimate right to interpret the US Constitution several years later?
O'Connor, who was unable to work in the law firm, had to turn to the public service industry. She took a job as a government lawyer—no fixed pay or even an independent office. O'Connor told his boss : "I'm getting along well with your secretary, and I should be able to sit down after squeezing."
Not long after, O'Connor's three children followed one after another. In order to take care of the family, this top student at Stanford quit his job and concentrates on being a housewife for five years. She didn't return to the workplace until the children entered elementary school.
▲O'Connor and three children
1965, after graduating from law school 13 years ago, O'Connor, who already has rich political experience, became the assistant attorney general of Arizona.
In 1969, 39-year-old O'Connor was elected the first female senator in Arizona.
In 1972, O'Connor became the leader of the majority party in the Arizona Senate, becoming a rare female political leader in that era of patriarchal power. Later, she served as a judge in the grassroots courts and the Court of Appeals.
▲Reagan promised to nominate a female justice as early as the campaign time
1981 When Reagan was looking for a candidate for a female justice, as one of the few women in the Republican Party who had both educational, age and connection advantages, O'Connor was the candidate without suspense.
After experiencing 101 male justices, the Federal Supreme Court finally welcomed the first woman. People even gave O'Connor abbreviation - FWOTSC (First Woman of the Supreme Court). This means that since 1960, the vigorous feminist movement in the United States has reached its peak.
In the 25 years since O'Connor served as the Supreme Court, her opinions on issues such as abortion, death penalty, and equality have had a profound impact on the United States in the 21st century.
▲In 2009, O'Connor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama
During his tenure as Supreme Court justice, O'Connor was considered a moderate conservative and often cast a decisive vote on major controversial issues. For example, in 2000, the Bush v. Gore case was selected by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful women.
