--- description: Sandra Day O’Connor is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Sandra Day O’Connor: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51e16727d3aea26/698a0aeb096a947afd6a7cc2/social-2000_Sandra-Day-OConnor.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2000: Sandra Day O’Connor Mar 5, 2020 11:41 AM CUT  Fred Schilling––ZUMA by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:41 AM CUT The first woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, [Sandra Day O’Connor](https://time.com/4380619/sandra-day-oconnor-35-years/ "undefined") was known for a centrist pragmatism even as she often voted with the conservative bloc and waded into some of the most contentious issues during 25 years on the bench. The most politically provocative case of her tenure came in 2000, when the Supreme Court determined the presidential election. In a 5-4 split along ideological lines, with O’Connor joining the conservative majority, the court ruling resulted in George W. Bush’s victory over Al Gore. The divisive decision tainted the Justices with accusations of partisanship and tested Americans’ faith in their electoral system. —_Tessa Berenson_ --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793747/sandra-day-o-connor-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793747/sandra-day-o-connor-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"2000: Sandra Day O’Connor","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:41:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:50.129Z","description":"Sandra Day O’Connor is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793747/sandra-day-o-connor-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51e16727d3aea26/698a0aeb096a947afd6a7cc2/social-2000_Sandra-Day-OConnor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51e16727d3aea26/698a0aeb096a947afd6a7cc2/social-2000_Sandra-Day-OConnor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 2000 Sandra-Day-OConnor","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793747/sandra-day-o-connor-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"2000: Sandra Day O’Connor"}}]}] ```