She grew up in the Great Southwest on an isolated ranch that had no electricity or running water. Cowboys taught her to rope, ride and shoot. She went to law school at Stanford and graduated third in her class; number one was a guy she'd briefly dated, William H. Rehnquist, who went on to become Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. He in turn put in a good word for her when a newly elected president followed through on a campaign promise to put a woman on the Supreme Court.
It was thirty years ago today that President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor as the highest court's first female associate justice. The story behind that nomination is every bit as interesting as the life of the cowgirl-turned-attorney who -- after graduation -- couldn't find a law firm that would take her on simply because she was female.
Three decades after her nomination, three women sit on the Supreme Court. Though it's been six years since O'Connor retired, she holds the record for most years served on the bench by a female Supreme Court Justice - 24 years. In comparison, the second woman nominated to the Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has just finished serving her 18th year.
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