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Great leap for womankind: O'Connor was surprised when she became the first woman Supreme Court justice in 1981. "I thought it was unlikely that a ranch girl from Arizona would be [named]," she said.
Tiebreaker: Once conservative, O'Connor, 71, has gravitated toward the center and become the all-important swing vote on a divided court, leading The New York Times to call her "the most powerful woman in America."
Making history: She upheld Roe v. Wade in 1992, voted to block the recount of Florida's ballots in the 2000 presidential election, and recently voted for school vouchers and against executing mentally retarded inmates.