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President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts delivered emotional eulogies for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during her funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (December 19).
O'Connor, who was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, died on December 1 due to "complications related to advanced dementia." She was 93.
Biden praised O'Connor, calling her an "American pioneer."
"Sandra Day O'Connor, the daughter of the American West, was a pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers of legal and political worlds and the nation's consciousness."
He recounted the day in 1981 when the Senate confirmed her nomination to the Supreme Court.
"Announcing her nomination earlier that summer, President Reagan described her as — and I quote —"a person of all seasons." And it was a person for all seasons that we saw at this hearing, and the Americans and the world would see through her extraordinary service as a justice, and I might add as a citizen: Gracious and wise, civil and principled," Biden said.
Justice John Roberts described working with O'Connor on the High Court, saying she had a "simple and direct" approach on the bench.
"The way she participated in oral argument at the court is a good example. Justices have many different styles on the bench. Some like the back and forth of debates, others pose unusual hypotheticals, some badger counsel to get concessions. Others spell out a particular theory at length and ask for comment. Now all this is fine and good," Roberts explained.
"Justice O'Connor was different. After the advocate had gotten through only a couple sentences, the justice would jump in before her colleagues could with a well-prepared question. The question was clear, direct, even enunciated carefully. It went to the heart of the lawyer's case with no fluff. Her approach was: let's get what's most important to me on the table at the outset. Get it done."