Sandra Day O'Connor Signed Photograph.

Sandra Day O'Connor is a retired attorney, politician, and the first woman jurist to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman nominated and confirmed. Nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, she was considered the swing vote for the Rehnquist Court and the beginning of the Roberts Court. Prior to O'Connor's tenure on the Court, she was a judge and an elected official in Arizona, serving as the first female Majority Leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate. Upon her nomination to the Court, O'Connor was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. On July 1, 2005, she announced her intention to retire effective upon the confirmation of a successor. Samuel Alito was nominated to take her seat in October 2005 and joined the Court on January 31, 2006. On August 12, 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.