A Reputation for Excelling’ – Sandra Day O’Connor

Judge Sandra Day O’Connor’s place in history is already secure, based on today’s announcement that she will be President Reagan’s nominee as the first woman on the United States Supreme Court.
But if her past is prologue, after her Senate confirmation Judge O’Connor might well go on to leave even larger ”footprints on the sands of time,” as Mr. Reagan, quoting Longfellow, described the mark of United States Justices. Thus far in her 51 years, Judge O’Connor has compiled an impressive list of academic, civic, political and legal achievements.
”She’s finished at the top in a lot of things,” said Mary Ellen Simonson of Phoenix, who was a legislative aide when Mrs. O’Connor was majority leader of the Arizona State Senate, the first woman in the nation to hold such a leadership position.
”She has a reputation for excelling,” Mrs. Simonson continued. ”As a result she’s been one of the state’s leading role models for women. Now she’s a national role model.”
Judge O’Connor, who currently sits on the Arizona Court of Appeals, the state’s second highest court, refused this afternoon to discuss ”substantive issues” when she met with reporters in Phoenix. And, because of her short, 18-month tenure on the appeals court and its somewhat limited docket, she has faced few of the nettlesome issues routinely taken up by the United States Supreme Court. Nevertheless, her past and her acquaintances provide some insights into her mind and personality.
She is said, by friend and foe alike