As an admirer of SDO for quite some time, this book opened me up to admire her even more. This book told me so many things that I never knew. It also explained her reasoning behind many of her decisions, both as a justice and in life. Worth the read.

Joan Biskupic's biography _Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice_ provides a compelling picture of the first woman Supreme Court justice and of the inner workings of the Supreme Court through four presidential administrations. Biskupic combines assiduous research with a writing style that makes the intricacies of Supreme Court proceedings accessible and fascinating. The biography is impressive on many counts, especially in how it captures O'Connor's skilfull handling of the challenges of being the nation's first female Supreme Court Justice. Throughout, Biskupic's stance is balanced, outlining the strengths of O'Connor's jurisprudence while acknowleding O'Connor's critics.

While the main focus of the biography is on O'Connor's work in the Supreme Court, the early chapters offer a snapshot of O'Connor as a driven career woman, a devoted wife and mother, and an adroit politician. Biskupic shows how O'Connor's life on the family's "Lazy B." farm in Arizona was a formative influence, even though her parents consciously separated her from the farm in order to give her more educational opportunities at a private school in in El Paso. Her father's independence and opposition to the expansion of federal powers in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, and O'Connor's experiences as a trial lawyer, an Arizona state senator, and a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals shaped an approach to law based on pragmatic, narrow definitions as opposed to overarching theoretical positions in rulings. As Biskupic shows, O'Connor's Arizonan, Western roots are manifest in her respect for the Tenth Amendment, which gives to states those powers not directly assigned to the federal government.

Biskupic is sensitive in tracing O'Connor's role as a trailblazer (though, often, in a purposefully understated way), and the biography shows how attitudes toward women have evolved from the 1950s to the present. O'Connor, for instance, despite graduating in the top 10% at Stanford University's Law school in 1952 and having been a member of the Stanford Law Review, received no offers at firms. One prestigious firm, Gibson, Dunn offered her a legal secretary position, which she declined. In an irony reflective of social changes, when Fred Smith, Ronald Reagan's White House Counsel and a former lawyer with Gibson, Dunn, and Grutcher, interviewed O'Connor in 1981 for the Supreme Court vacancy, O'Connor asked him if it was an interview for "a secretarial position." Biskupic begins her book with this effective anecdote, and the biography throughout reveals how O'Connor astutely negotiated gender prejudice in public life.

Biskupic also offers a detailed picture of O'Connor's important votes related to Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, capital punishment, and Bush v. Gore as she became increasingly the fifth tie-breaking in a deadlocked court. Biskupic chronicles O'Connor's evolution as a jurist, arguing that her role as a centrist often made her a baramoter of where the nation as a whole stood. Biskupic points out that O'Connor's legislative background as an Arizona State Senator--as a person who ran for office and thus who was directly accountable to the electorate--gave her a unique perspective in the Supreme Court with its life-time appointees.

Chapter 15, "Scalia v. O'Connor," highlights O'Connor's judicial pragmatism and minimalist interpretations, offering a contrast with Scalia's philosophically driven understanding of law on originalist grounds. In this chapter, Biskupic addresses critiques of O'Connor's decisions and legal reasoning from both the right and left. This chapter is fair in its discussion and highly informative about different approaches to law and about the role of the Supreme Court, in general.

An anecdote at the end of the book reveals O'Connor's personal style. In an interview with Biskupic, Clarence Thomas recalled O'Connor's congeniality and even the subtle impact this had on the court . O'Connor had attempted for a number of years to convince the other justices to eat lunch together after listening to cases. Although Thomas and other justices initially resisted, prefering to work on cases, he and others later relented. Thomas remarks, "Now, you have a group of people who really enjoy other's company." Biskupic argues that such tact helped lead to O'Connor's ascendant role in the court.

Biskupic's biography chronicles O'Connor's own life and provides a view of the day-to-day dynamics of the Supreme Court, including shifts in the court with retirements and the investitures of new justices. The biography, while telling many important stories affecting American law and life, maintains a clear argument of O'Connor's unmistakable influence.

This is a most engaging portrait of a model justice in the common law tradition. Justice O'Connor is a true American icon of humble and hardworking origins rising to the heights of leadership based on character, critical thinking and an ethic of service. Her good will and civility toward those with whom she disagreed is an example to follow. The narrative is well informed, nuanced and flows steadily in a current that merges national, judicial and personal events in the judge's life most artfully. A wonderful book about a wonderful lady and an excellent Supreme Court justice. It is the likes of Sandra Day O'Connor that make one proud to be an American. And though I've never (yet) voted Republican she is also one more beautiful reason to love Ronald Reagan.

Biskupic picks up where Justice O'Connor left off in her joint biography (with brother Alan) of growing up on the Lazy B ranch in southern Arizona, and includes O'Connor's decision to pursue law studies at Stanford ("to make a difference," and as an outgrowth of a professor contending that an individual had a responsibility to the community).

After graduating from Stanford, marrying, and living in Germany with her husband while he competed his military assignment, Sandra Day O'Connor eventually settled in Phoenix. Failing to find employmente commensurate with her education, she started a law firm with another attorney, had three sons (took off five years to raise them), joined many community boards, helped/led several major Republican political campaings, became an assistant State's Attorney General, was appointed to a legislative vacancy (and subsequently elected in her own right), and became President of the State Senate.

Upon William Rehnquist's nomination to the Supreme Court, Sandra O'Connor undertook considerable effort to support him, including contacting fellow Stanford classmates, U.S. Senators, and newspaper editors, as well as making supporting speeches. Afterwards she left the State Senate to run for a vacant county judge position (won).

Several years later O'Connor was appointed by Governor Babbitt (Dem) to the state Appeals Court, and then had the opportunity to spend some time vacationing with Chief Justice Burger.

O'Connor's having grown up on a Western ranch seemed to make her more attractive to President Reagan, who had made a campaign promise to appoint a woman to the Court. Her prior abortion stance (voted to end an Arizona law prohibiting it) threatened to torpedo her nomination, but supporters (including Senator Goldwater) managed to quickly move the process forward and overcome opposition.

The remainder of the book details O'Connor's actions in a number of Court cases. (It was somewhat comforting to read of how sharply she honed in on issues while on the Court - I had a brief experience before her in her County Court, and was amazed and even intimidated by her sharp questioning even then.)

Finally, while I have the highest regard for Justice O'Connor, it was disappointing to read of the large role played by politics - even in our judicial system, and especially the centrality of the abortion issue. I was also unhappy to read about O'Connor's political comments (wanting to retire while a Republican was President), her dancing around the abortion issue, and key role in the 2000 election.

This is the book I want my daughter to read as she finishes high school and considers the world of ahead. The story of Sandra Day O'Connor's life is the story of our country and the news events that have shaped our national policy from abortion rights to 911 and to the election of our president. Joan Biskupic is a skilled reporter, who makes you wonder "how did she get that information." O'Connor is presented as a deal-maker, centrist and yet in her own right she was her own woman sponsoring yoga classes in the all male bastion of the Supreme Court gym "the hightest court in the land."