in the more recent collection, they have opened that of harry blackmun. it was quite an interesting occasion because just -- justice blackmun saved in virtually every piece of paper that he ever collected, including his dance cards and critiques of what the petitioners and respondents were in oral arguments. [laughter] and sometimes greeted them. -- graded them. [laughter] these papers are accessible to everyone on an equal basis. and of course, partial to the manuscript division, i would like to give a shout out to the wonderful library of congress, which is a market -- marvelous repository and i know from experience -- basically, the bulk of my experience was in the jefferson building. [applause] >> i neglected to mention that this event is being televised live on c-span3 and is streamed live on c-span.org tonight. and in classic c-span style, it would not be a production without having you involved. the panel will be open for your questions and observations about the court and we look forward to the things you are interested in talking about. let me tal

i remember harry blackmun telling me about sandra o'connor.he said, that woman came here with an agenda and started throwing her weight iran and from the first day. -- her weight around from the first day. [laughter] i do recall that she spent the arbor of the first term that she was there and did insert yourself -- spend the november of the persian that she was there and did insert herself. it is literally true that the court does change, and we see it with each new justice because we know, at least those that pay fairly close attention to it, that is not necessarily predictable that you can note easily which five will constitute a majority in any given case. >> it is exciting for us to cover a new justice because it gives us a new court and we 7fk&-háhem in public playing off each other. justice harry blackmun about sandra day o'connor, usually those things do not become evident with the justice's own words. we watch from the bench and see the dynamic opinions. it's one thing that just as prior might have mentioned if he had gone on about wh

on nixon's short list was a childhood friend of warren burger, harry blackmun.the chief eagerly endorsed and advocated him. just before the court began its october, 1971, term, nixon faced two openings when hugo black and john marshall, suffering -pillnesses, retired. chief justice warren burger expressed concern over the cases with only seven justicesg- instead of nine. the chief grew anxious when he discovered the administration had submitted the following names for evaluation it -- herschel friday, mildred -- and robert byrd of west virginia. although it was the first serious consideration of a female candidate, nixon told his attorney general that women should not serve in government because they were erratic and emotional. thank god we do not have any in the cabinet, he exclaimed. riday and lilly fell from obscurity. chief justice warren burger fired off a confidential letter to the attorney general repeating a previous recommendation that distinguished attorney of lewis powell should be the next nominee. the 64-year-old had asked his consideration. he was

circuit judge harry blackmun, by all accounts, -padvocated his fellow minnesota and he would refer to himself as old no. 3 to indicate that he was nixon's third choice. just before the court began in october, 1971, nixon faced two openings. they were sufferinggterminal illnesses. chief justice burger expressed concern over the spot course the minister membership. deciding cases with six justices instead of nine was problematic. three names were submitted. herschhl friday, a california court of appeals judge, and senator robert byrd of west virginia. nixon had told his attorney general that women should not serve in government because they were erratic and emotional. thank god we do not have any in the cabinet, he exclaimed. friday and will lead fell into a security -- secured -- of security. chief justice burger fired off a personal and confidential letter to attorney general mitchell repeating his previous recommendation -- recommendation. the 19 -- the 64-year-old virginia gentleman had already asked that his name be removed from consideration. he was of no more interested in the po