Daily Herald opinion: Sandra Day O'Connor remembered for independence and place in history

Firsts are memorable - in life and in history.

For women, one of the most thrilling came in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor for the Supreme Court, ending nearly 200 years of men only on the highest court in the land. Her confirmation shattered a pivotal glass ceiling, and it was rightly celebrated as a massive step forward for women who had fought so hard for equality and for girls whose dreams suddenly seemed less limited.

Sandra Day O'Connor died Friday at the age of 93. She leaves an incredible legacy, though it might be difficult for a young woman born in this millennium to understand what O'Connor's appointment meant at the time.

Perhaps Time magazine's cover summed it up best: "Justice - At Last."

For women, it felt that way.

The Associated Press, in reporting on O'Connor's death, wrote that she was taken aback by the massive reaction to her appointment and the record-setting number of letters she received. "People saw it as a signal that there are virtually unlimited opportunities for women," she said. "It's important to parents for their daughters, and to daughters for themselves."

She was confirmed 99-0 in the Senate, a bipartisan show of support that seems almost quaint in light of more recent antics to ignore Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick in 2016 - and rush through Donald Trump's in 2020 - to pack the court with conservatives.

O'Connor was seen as a moderate conservative, one who cast key votes on affirmative action and abortion. Of the latter, she said: "Some of us as individuals find abortion offensive to our most basic principles of morality, but that can't control our decision. Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code."

Last year, the current court overturned Roe v. Wade. The majority opinion was penned by Samuel Alito, the man who replaced O'Connor.

In the hours after O'Connor's death was announced Friday, current and former U.S. officials of both parties hailed her courage, her integrity and her independence. They pointed to her most important rulings, as well as her most controversial. No one, however, can dispute her impact.

Five other women have served on the high court since O'Connor was sworn in. Today, there are four. So, perhaps, it is understandable that many younger women can't fathom the power of her appointment.

"Young women today," O'Connor once said, "often have very little appreciation for the real battles that took place to get women where they are today in this country."

O'Connor won one of the biggest. And we as a nation are better for it.