SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR

“Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom.”

Credit: U.S. National Archives

Associate Justice

1981 — 2006

Appointed by: Ronald Reagan

Sworn in: September 25, 1981

Preceded by: Potter Stewart

Succeeded by: Samuel Alito

Time on the Court

Justice Rehnquist

Justice Souter

1993 — 2020

1969 — 1986

1981 — 2005

Justice Stevens

1956 — 1990

Justice Powell

1970 — 1974

Justice Blackmun

1986 — 2016

1972 — 1987

1991 — Present

Justice Thomas

1990 — 2009

1988 — 2009

Justice White

Justice Marshall

1967 — 1991

1986 — 2005

Justice Brennan

Justice Scalia

1962 — 1993

2005 — Present

What the Court looked like when Justice O’Connor served.

Chief Justice Roberts

Chief Justice Rehnquist

1981

Chief Justice Burger

Justice O’Connor

1975 — 2010

1994 — 2022

1972 — 1986

Justice Kennedy

Justice Ginsburg

2000

Justice Breyer

1994

1986

2006