today, she looks to be quite moderate and it didn't hurt that she was a classmate of william rehnquist, who went on to be the chief justice and had actually dated her briefly in law school. and so they knew who she was, personal. >> she i think i heard he proposed to her and she said no. >> right. she could have been sandra day rehnquist could have been. >> could have been. she she she married somebody that they she didn't look back. and her husband was a wonderful person as well. and her family, of course, is quite a close knit family. and they still have a ranch in arizona. um, and she she let me just say in personal interviews with the president, i am sure was impressive because she not only is a brilliant thinker, but she's a careful, considerate thinker. she is not a rush to judgment person. she's not she was not ideologically polarized in any way. she was conservative. but she she was she fit what ronald reagan was looking for. >> can we talk about that, where she started as a conservative, but eventually as the court shifted, she sort of became a moderate, centrist voice. talk a

because in the first place already serving on the court was one of my classmates from law school, william rehnquist. he had been a good friend. he lived in arizona. i knew his wife as an undergraduate. we were good friends. and it was just incon seeivable to me we would be asked to serve on the court at the same time. there are many states to this day never had anyone serve on this court. and so for the small state of arizona to all of a susessen have two at the same time was unimaginable to me. and when i was interviewed by william french smith and some of the cabinet members in the reagan administration, i didn't believe for a minute that i would be asked to serve. i went back to arizona after those interviews and said to my husband how interesting it was to visit washington, d.c., and to meet the people around the president and indeed to meet the president himself and talk to him, but i said thank goodness, i don't have to go for that job. i didn't want it. and i wasn't sure i could do the job well enough to justify time. i have often said it's wonderful to be the first to do something, but i di

number one was william rehnquist who came number one and he went on to become chief justice.itially worked for nothing for the city attorney san mateo and then earned her stipend, as she called it, and the rest was history. but i do think her perseverance and the discrimination she faced, all of the things that she had to do, she struggled for — to accomplish every step of the way. nothing came easy. but she always found a way to achieve her goals. in terms, then, of her time on the bench, what do you think stood out in terms of her opinions and her votes? well, as a member of the arizona state legislature, she was the senate majority leader and prior to that, was an assistant attorney general. i think having served in all three branches of government — one of the few justices who have had that experience — gave her a more balanced view of how the law works, from different perspectives. i do think it impacted her jurisprudence and just her pragmatic approach to things. she was persuaded by the facts, compassionate and also sought to find consensus. you mentioned there asserti

because in the first place already serving on the court was one of my classmates from law school, william rehnquist. he had been a good friend. he lived in arizona. i knew his wife as an undergraduate. we were good friends. and it was just incon seeivable to me we would be asked to serve on the court at the same time. there are many states to this day never had anyone serve on this court. and so for the small state of arizona to all of a susessen have two at the same time was unimaginable to me. and when i was interviewed by william french smith and some of the cabinet members in the reagan administration, i didn't believe for a minute that i would be asked to serve. i went back to arizona after those interviews and said to my husband how interesting it was to visit washington, d.c., and to meet the people around the president and indeed to meet the president himself and talk to him, but i said thank goodness, i don't have to go for that job. i didn't want it. and i wasn't sure i could do the job well enough to justify time. i have often said it's wonderful to be the first to do something, but i di

because in the first place already serving on the court was one of my classmates from law school, william rehnquist. he had been a good friend. he lived in arizona. i knew his wife as an undergraduate. we were good friends. and it was just incon seeivable to me we would be asked to serve on the court at the same time. there are many states to this day never had anyone serve on this court. and so for the small state of arizona to all of a susessen have two at the same time was unimaginable to me. and when i was interviewed by william french smith and some of the cabinet members in the reagan administration, i didn't believe for a minute that i would be asked to serve. i went back to arizona after those interviews and said to my husband how interesting it was to visit washington, d.c., and to meet the people around the president and indeed to meet the president himself and talk to him, but i said thank goodness, i don't have to go for that job. i didn't want it. and i wasn't sure i could do the job well enough to justify time. i have often said it's wonderful to be the first to do something, but i di

o'connor met her classmate and future supreme court chief justice william rehnquist, but she also methe had been an important member of the law review when she was at stanford. and she also met her husband famously through the law review, through late night editing, i guess after law school, o'connor had trouble finding a firm that would hire a woman. >> her first job was as a law clerk with then san mateo county district attorney keith sorensen in my office of 66 prosecutors, 42 are women and 24 are men. >> and every one of them knows that it was sandra day who punched the hole in that ceiling and made it where, you know what? we just to be a good prosecutor, you just need to be a good lawyer. >> o'connor ended up working for state government and eventually made her way to the high court in 1981. she made history as the nation's first woman to sit on the supreme court. >> she was a justice of very great integrity and also practical sense. >> on october 5th, 1981, o'connor's first day as a justice on the supreme court, five students from stanford proclaimed a day of celebration at the

. >> she wasn't to stanford in the same law class as william rehnquist.hey dated for a time and he even proposed. she turned him down but they stayed live long friends. upon graduation, no law firm would hire o'connor so she helped start her own. later becoming a powerful state lawmaker. then judge. >> president reagan today settled the question of when he would nominate a woman to the nation's highest court. >> she is truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament and pairness and devotion to the public good. >> in 1981, president ronal reagan nominated her to be the first woman on the supreme court. the senate confirmed her unanimously, 99-0. >> reporter: in 1988, she survived a breast cancer scare and returned to work ten days after surgery. her dry western wit was in tact. >> the worse was by public visibility, frankly. there was constant media coverage. how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court? >> reporter: overtime she became known as a moderate conservati

. >> o'connor went to stanford for wil w law with chief justice william rehnquist.obody would hire her, and she was a power ful lawmaker and thn judge. >> and ronald reagan has decided to nominate sandra day on connor to the highest court. >> and now, for the fairness and intellectual capacity and goodness to the public good. >> reporter: in 1981, president ronald reagan nominated her to the highest court. and the senate confirmed her unanimously 99-0. in 1988, the justice survived a breast cancer scare, and she returned to work 10 days after surgery. the dry western with it. remained in tact. >> the worst was my public visibility, frankly. there was constant media coverage. how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court. >> and she did not like the reference as the only woman on the court. >> we have equal voice, and i am no more powerful on this court for sure. >> reporter: and she was a trend setter. >> anybody who knows her, she makes up her own mind and not at all concerned about where anybody else is on th

. >> reporter: o'connor went to stanford in the same law class as future chief justice william rehnquistey dated for a time and he even proposed. she turned him down by they stayed lifelong friends. upon graduation no law firm would hire o'connor so she eventually helped start her own, later becoming a powerful state lawmaker then judge. >> president reagan today settled the question of when he would nominate a woman to the highest court. >> she is truly a person for all seasons, possessing unique qualities of temperament, fairness, intellectual capacity and devotion to the public good. >> reporter: in 1981 president ronald regular began nominated her to be the first woman. the senate confirmed her snamsly, 99-0. in 1988 the justice survived a breast cancer scare, and returned to work just ten days after surgery. her dry western wit remained intact. >> the worst was my public visibility, frankly. there was constant media coverage. how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court? >> reporter: over time o'connor became known as a modera

american history who had been once proposed marriage by her chief justice, which in this case was william rehnquist. this was not known until evan thomas' great book came out a few years ago. rehnquist and sandra o'connor were classmates at stanford law school. rehnquist fell under her spell, proposed marriage to her, which she turned down. she was such a catch that apparently three other men at stanford law school also proposed marriage to her. you would think this might be an awkward situation when in 1981, sandra day o'connor arrives on the court and there she is serving alongside chief justice rehnquist, who had once wanted to become engaged with her. one measure of both of their civility is that it was never an issue. they had a great friendship, had a great working relationship. this was one additional unique aspect of sandra o'connor's life. >> so fascinating. one record probably that has no threat of being broken in the future. >> i would guess so. >> michael, thanks. laura, your thoughts on this life of purpose. >> jose, i was struck by some of the anecdotes and storytelling from her biogr

at stanford university and its law school, where she was a classmate of future chief justice william rehnquistd another law grad, john o'connor, and tried for a job practicing law. but it was the 1950's and more than 40 firms turned her down. eventually, after having children, she turned to politics, served in the state senate and became a judge for arizona's state court of appeals. then, in 1981, president ronald reagan nominated o'connor to the u.s. supreme court. >> the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god. >> i do so swear. judy: she described herself as a judicial conservative, and won unanimous senate confirmation. but after joining the court, she came to be regarded as more moderate, and a swing vote. justice o'connor: some of the decisions are made by drawing very fine lines. and reasonable people can disagree on where those lines should be drawn. i have been there. and i know how challenging it is. it is not surprising at all that some cases are decided by drawing fine lines, with five people here and four people on the other side. judy: in 1992, justice o

been connected with sandra day o'connor in key moments, but what happened after that, chief william rehnquist passed away, and george w. bush switched roberts to the chief seat, and that is how he sits there as the chief justice of the united states, and samuel alito who is far more conservative of sandra day on nor succeeded her. >> and she was confirmed by the senate with 99-0? >> exactly right. 99-0. >> and as you and i remember, joe biden was the democratic senator from delaware, and the top democratic in the democratic hearings when they were having those hearings. >> and strom thurmond was promoting women to powerful positions that joe biden might not have at the time. but recipient concerns from the abortion activists to protect access to abortions, and she was willing to do it. >> i am old enough to remember, if it dealt with an issue that would come up before the supreme court, she dodged. >> that became the standard, and we have watched several different ones have come up, especially in the trump period, and many have dodged, and look at how contentious it was. and the grand standin

women at stanford law, and getting out of stanford law number three in a class that included william rehnquistm some remarkable reporting by her biographer, frank actually proposed marriage to her, to dear sandy in letters that were uncovered after his death. and just everything that she did as the first woman supreme court justice, mentoring other women, always defining the court for many many years because she was the centrist who could move to either side. some controversial decisions, some breakthrough decisions on affirmative action, for instance, which have subsequently been overturned, lamenting late in life that the things she had done had been undone by the current court, and just what she meant to women as the first woman to sit on that court, appointed by ronald reagan, of course. and in keeping with the campaign promise that he would put a woman on the court, and he did. >> sandra day o'connor, breaking the glass ceiling, paving the way for so many women. andrea mitchell, as always, my friend, thank you. we have justice sotomayor reflecting on this day. let's listen. >> today i kno

one other thing from history, there was one recusal, william rehnquist, who was a justice at the time, said i shouldn't vote because i have a connection to this case and my connection is that i was appointed to this court by richard nixon after serving in his justice department. you see where i'm going. >> yes, i do. >> here we are 2023. is this going to be a partisan vote or are they going to interpret the 14th amendment exactly and also, will someone like clarence thomas, whose wife looks as if she was quite involved in the insurrection of 2021, will he recuse? >> what a time to be alive. this is why you need to have a historian friend or two, because it's always helpful to have somebody who can lay it out with such great clarity and brilliance. michael beschloss, thank you so much. >> what a night. >> indeed. >> it's still what a night. it's going to keep going. so much more to talk about on this breaking news from colorado. donald trump disqualified from the ballot. what will the supreme court do? what will clarence thomas do? what could be the political fallout and the fallout am

make money as a justice led to a confidential memo in the year 2000 when then chief justice william rehnquists memo from a top judiciary official seeking guidance on what he termed a delicate matter. congress never gave justices a major raise or lifted the long standing ban on speaking fees. justice thomas did develop relationships with a set of wealthy benefactors who not only gave him large gifts but subsidized regular expenses. >> these relationships were basic living expenses, things like batteries for his rv, private school tuition. all of these things were paid for by friends and political donors. you know, which is something that other justices have not done to our knowledge. >> and since those wealthy donors have stepped in, justice thomas has apparently not raised the pay issue. >>> up next with israel facing mounting pressure to ease the intensity of its fighting in gaza and take on a more targeted approach, will benjamin netanyahu listen. >>> plus, the deciders, on the ground insights from crucial voting blocs in several bellwether counties of the 2024 race, stay right there. ♪ feb

number 2 was future chief justice william rehnquist, though they became fast friends. another student named john o'connor courted sandra day. the 2 quickly became inseparable after meeting on an assignment at the stanford law review. we're top firms offered mister o'connor a job right out of law school. know firms would hire sandra misses o'connor turned down the chance to be a legal secretary. and instead work for free in the san mateo county attorney's office. she quickly earned respect and a promotion to become the deputy county attorney. their 3 children talked about what it was like growing up in the o'connor household. and in 1980, president ronald reagan fulfilled a campaign promise when he nominated o'connor to the nation's highest court. i will send to the senate. >> the nomination of judge sandra day o'connor of arizona court of appeals for confirmation as an associate justice of the united states supreme court. >> she filled the seat of retiring justice potter stewart by a unanimous vote. >> joy, with expression of support from the fed up. >> mississippi uni

records from the time- i'm sorry, records obtained by propublica, including a confidential memo to william rehnquist. thomas made that complaint to iff stearns, a vocal conservative who told propublica that thomas' importance as a conservative was paramount and that republicans wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job and he was being paid properly. you would also understand how thomas' complaints might trigger the same level of concern with leonard leo, who invested so much in these people, and the outcomes they could deliver. congress never changed the law. but a couple years after those comments, thomas struck up a lucrative friendship with texas billionaire harlan crow, a friend of leo's. this helped thomas pay for his mother's house, luxury vacations, and tuition for a grand nephew. later in 2012, leo also directed thousands of dollars in fees to the justice's wife, who needs a raise with friends like these? joining me now is the coauthor of that report, published today in propublica, brett murphy. thank you for being here. this was a fascinating report that actually kind of answers a

number 2 was future chief justice william rehnquist, though they became fast friends. another student named john o'connor courted sandra day. the 2 quickly became inseparable after meeting on an assignment at the stanford law review. we're top firms offered mister o'connor a job right out of law school. know firms would hire sandra misses o'connor turned down the chance to be a legal secretary. and instead work for free in the san mateo county attorney's office. she quickly earned respect and a promotion to become the deputy county attorney. their 3 children talked about what it was like growing up in the o'connor household. and in 1980, president ronald reagan fulfilled a campaign promise when he nominated o'connor to the nation's highest court. i will send to the senate. >> the nomination of judge sandra day o'connor of arizona court of appeals for confirmation as an associate justice of the united states supreme court. >> she filled the seat of retiring justice potter stewart by a unanimous vote. >> joy, with expression of support from the fed up. >> mississippi uni

o'connor met her classmate and future supreme court chief justice william rehnquist. she also met her husband. >> she had been an important member of the law review when she was at stanford, and she also met her husband famously through the law review, through late night editing, i guess after law school. >> o'connor had trouble finding a firm that would hire a woman. her first job was as a law clerk with then san mateo county district attorney keith sorensen . in my office of 66 prosecutors, 42 are women and 24 are men. >> and every one of them knows that it was sandra day who punched the hole in that ceiling and made it where, you know what ? we just to be a good prosecutor, you just need to be a good lawyer. >> o'connor ended up working for state government and eventually made her way to the high court. in 1981, she made history as the nation's first woman to sit on the supreme court. >> she was a justice of very great integrity and also practical sense. >> on october 5th, 1981, o'connor's first day as a justice on the supreme court, five students from stanford pro

number 2 was future chief justice william rehnquist, though they became fast friends. another student named john o'connor courted sandra day. the 2 quickly became inseparable after meeting on an assignment at the stanford law review. we're top firms offered mister o'connor a job right out of law school. know firms would hire sandra misses o'connor turned down the chance to be a legal secretary. and instead work for free in the san mateo county attorney's office. she quickly earned respect and a promotion to become the deputy county attorney. their 3 children talked about what it was like growing up in the o'connor household. and in 1980, president ronald reagan fulfilled a campaign promise when he nominated o'connor to the nation's highest court. i will send to the senate. >> the nomination of judge sandra day o'connor of arizona court of appeals for confirmation as an associate justice of the united states supreme court. >> she filled the seat of retiring justice potter stewart by a unanimous vote. >> joy, with expression of support from the fed up. >> mississippi uni

lunch with her about the fact that when she got out of school, number 200 of course, behind william rehnquist, who became the ultimate chief and she put in applications everywhere in the story that she told me that i will never forget was and i conveyed to was getting reject letters and she met with and he said, you know, i'm very impressed you. after meeting with what would you like to do with our firm? and she goes off course. i'd like to be a lawyer. and the answer she got was from this man was there will never be women in the law. i tell that story to the people in my office because today the legacy that sandra day o'connor, the left our little office is. today i've got 66 prosecutors in san mateo county da's office. you know what? 42 of them are women and 20 format and the women know that what they have today was in large part based on people like sandra day o'connor who broke the ceiling. and to me, i will never forget and nobody gets to be employed and the da's office and met with city without hearing that story for me. >> wow. that's incredible history right there and love hearing abo

2005, while we're in the middle of that confirmation battle for john roberts, chief justice william rehnquist passes away and then you end up with samuel alito confirmed to the court by the january of that next year. really she put a lot of things into motion. >> shannon: things you could not have predicted. you are right, that gave us the man who has been the chief justice since then. think about his impact on the court. she thought he was a very good choice because he had argued a number of cases before the court. when she heard it looked like he would be her replacement she was very supportive of the fact that he had the intellectual rigor and skills and everything he would need to be a good justice, but then all those dominoes fall. the passing of justice rehnquist and very quickly you know well the bush administration had to then work on two confirmations giving us both chief justice roberts, justice alito and she could have never known when she decided my husband needs me, i need to spend time with him and walk him through his illness and be with him, that it would trigger all those oth

uh- o'connor met her classmate and future supreme court chief justice william rehnquist. she also met her husband. she had been an important member of the law review when she was at stanford, and she also met her husband famously through the law review, through late night editing, i guess after law school. o'connor had trouble finding a firm that would hire a woman for her first job was as a law clerk with then san mateo county district attorney keith sorensen. in my office of 66 prosecutors, 42 are women and 24 are men. >> and every one of them knows that it was sandra day who punched the hole in that ceiling and made it where, you know what? we just to be a good prosecutor, you just need to be a good lawyer. >> o'connor ended up working for state government and eventually made her way to the high court. in 1981, she made history as the nation's first woman to sit on the supreme court. >> she was a justice of very great integrity and also practical sense on october 5th, 1981, o'connor's first day as a justice on the supreme court, five students from stanford proclaimed a

o'connor met her classmate and future supreme court chief justice william rehnquist. she also met her husband. she had been an important member of the law review when she was at stanford, and she also met her husband and famously, through the law review , through late night editing, i guess, after law school. o'connor had trouble finding a firm that would hire a woman. her first job was as a law clerk with then san mateo county district attorney keith sorensen . >> in my office of 66, prosecutor shooters, 42 are women and 24 are men. and every one of them knows that it was sandra day who punched the hole in that ceiling and made it where, you know what? we just to be a good prosecutor, you just need to be a good lawyer. >> o'connor ended up working for state governor hunt and eventually made her way to the high court in 1981. she made history as the nation's first woman to sit on the supreme court. >> she was a justice of very great integrity and also practical sense. >> on october 5th, 1981, o'connor's first day as a justice on the supreme court, five students from s

additionally a top judicial official wrote to then chief justice william rehnquist about thomas's concernsncing it as a delicate matter. and thomas talked privately about removing the ban on justices making money from speeches. propublica puts this all into context. "thomas was talking about his finances in a crucial period in his tenure just as he was developing his relationships with a set of wealthy benefactors. congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise, b in the years that followed, as propublic bea has reported, thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appeared to be unparalleled in theodern history of the supreme court. some defrayed living expenses large and small. private school tuition, vehicle batteries, tires. other gifts froa coterie of ultra rich men supplemented his lifestyle such as free international vacations on the private jet and superyacht of dallas real estate billionaire harlan crow, end quote. neither thomas nor crow has responded to propublica's questions about the story. and that's where we start

because in the first place already serving on the court was one of my classmates from law school, william rehnquistad been a good friend. he lived in arizona. i knew his wife as an undergraduate at stanford. they were personal friends of my husband and mine and it just was inconceivable to me that we will be asked to serve on the court at the same time. there are many states that to this day have never had anyone -- any woman serve on this court, so -- anyone serve on this court. for the small state of arizona to have two the same time was unimaginable to me. when i was interviewed by the cabinet members in the reagan administration, i did not believe for a minute i would be asked to serve. i went back to arizona after those interviews and said to my husband how interesting it was to visit washington, d.c. and to me to the people around the president and the president himself and talk to him but i said, thank goodness i do not have to go do that job. i did not want it. i was not sure i could do the job well enough to justify trying. i have often said it is wonderful to be the first to do something,