The Career of Sandra Day O'Connor

Western History
O'Connor is pictured here at her Phoenix, Arizona home with her husband, John Jay O'Connor, and three sons, Scott, Jay and Brian, a month after she was sworn in. Though she was born in Texas and spent much of her childhood there, much of her early civic engagement, especially while working part-time as she raised her children, took place in Arizona and it was that state's political climate would come to shape her career.

• Sandra Day O'Connor To Retire