Biden, Roberts pay tribute at Sandra Day O’Connor funeral

A trailblazer for women. A tireless advocate for civility. A daughter of the American West.

President Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts eulogized the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in front of hundreds gathered for her funeral service Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral, remembering the first woman on the Supreme Court, who also became the indisputable swing vote for a generation.

“She was so successful that the barriers that she broke down are almost unthinkable today,” Roberts said.

Both Roberts and Biden encountered O’Connor when she was nominated to the high court by then-President Reagan in 1981.

Roberts worked in Reagan’s administration and helped prepare O’Connor for her confirmation hearing. Biden served as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat at the time and was part of the unanimous 99-0 vote that sent O’Connor to the Supreme Court.

“Gracious and wise, civil and principled, Sandra Day O’Connor, a daughter of the American West, was a pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers in the political world and the nation’s conscience,” Biden said Tuesday.

“To her, the Supreme Court was the bedrock, the bedrock of America.”

O’Connor died on Dec. 1 at the age of 93 from what the court described as advanced dementia, “probably Alzheimer’s.” She retired from the court in 2006 and had moved back to Arizona.

All nine sitting justices attended Tuesday’s service, as did many of their spouses. With organ music playing throughout the iconic cathedral, Justices Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch were particularly chatty before the service began, laughing at times as they appeared to joke to one another.

Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy was also in attendance. Retired Justices Stephen Breyer and David Souter were not seen.

The justice’s biographer and clergy also participated in the service, held on a breezy day in the nation’s capital, while O’Connor’s grandchildren served as readers and honorary pallbearers.

Also spotted at Tuesday’s service were U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and other Justice Department officials, Supreme Court employees and members of O’Connor’s family.

O’Connor had served on the Supreme Court for more than two decades, emerging as the decisive swing vote on some of the court’s biggest cases, including those on issues such as abortion and affirmative action.

“Quite simply, she was a force of nature,” said Jay O’Connor, the youngest of the justice’s three children.

But much of Tuesday’s service focused on her other legacies, with speakers hailing O’Connor’s unyielding commitment to civics education and insistence on collegiality at the court.

Historian and O’Connor biographer Evan Thomas noted she “made it her business” to ensure the justices had lunch together. 

“When Justice Clarence Thomas came on the court, he later told me, he didn’t much feel like going to lunch,” the biographer said. “But after conference, Justice O’Connor would walk with him down the hallway, saying, ‘Clarence, you need to come to lunch.’ So, finally, as he told me, ‘I started going to lunch.’”

“He felt he’d belonged. He said she was the glue. The reason this place was civil was Sandra Day O’Connor.”

The tradition still goes on today.

Tuesday’s service capped two days of public remembrance events for O’Connor in the nation’s capital.

On Monday, O’Connor’s casket arrived at the Supreme Court, with dozens of her former clerks lining the plaza to see her casket go up the iconic stairs. Inside, members of the public for hours paid their respects as she lied in repose in the Great Hall, the column-lined room that leads to the courtroom.

Among the dignitaries who visited the court included Vice President Harris and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the only remaining sitting senator who voted on O’Connor’s confirmation.

As is tradition, a black drape was hung over the courtroom door following her death.

“May God bless Sandra Day O’Connor, an American pioneer,” Biden said Tuesday.