Evan Thomas said he saw Justice O'Connor, 89, about three weeks ago when he visited her at a care facility to give her a copy of his new book about her. "She was not in great shape," he said.
She was the First woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and now suffers from early stage Alzheimer-like dementia. Last October she withdrew from public life.
Thomas and Justice O'Connor have the same publisher, Random House, and when he was brought in on her book project a while back, he figured it was to be her ghost writer. Random had been after O'Connor to write her memoirs, but "I could tell she didn't want to do it," Thomas said.
The O'Connor family enthusiastically welcomed the Thomases as writers/researchers and granted them access to the justice's letters, papers, photographs, and more materials, not all of which the family had read, including 14 letters from a classmate at Stanford University, William Rehnquist.
Justice O'Connor and Justice Rehnquist later served together on the Supreme Court, years after Justice Rehnquist had asked Justice O'Connor to marry him (one of at least four marriage proposals she received while at Stanford).
She strung him along then, waiting to hear the magic words from the one she really loved, who became her husband, John O'Connor.
(When Justice Rehnquist died in 2005, I wondered why Justice O'Connor cried so hard, shedding more tears in public than one would have expected. Perhaps, she was in love with him.)
Mr. O'Connor also suffered from Alzheimer's and died in 2009, but not before he developed a relationship with "Kay" at a treatment facility where he lived. It was "terribly painful" for Justice O'Connor when he did not recognize his wife and introduced her to Kay whom he identified as his wife.
When he held hands with "the other woman," Justice O'Connor held his other hand.
After Mr. O'Connor was diagnosed in 2000, Justice O'Connor brought him for a time to the Supreme Court where he watched proceedings from a chair.
When she was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 and the couple moved to Washington, her husband found transitioning to "Washington law" difficult, said Oscie Thomas. He never succeeded here because his expertise was different from that required in Washington.
After moving to a second Washington firm, his mental deterioration became evident. In early 2006 Justice O'Connor retired from the Supreme Court to take care of her husband.
The authors described their book as "a love story" which, like all love stories, ends tragically.
When she was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 and the couple moved to Washington, her husband found transitioning to "Washington law" difficult, said Oscie Thomas. He never succeeded here because his expertise was different from that required in Washington.
After moving to a second Washington firm, his mental deterioration became evident. In early 2006 Justice O'Connor retired from the Supreme Court to take care of her husband.
The authors described their book as "a love story" which, like all love stories, ends tragically.
In the question and answer session which followed the presentation, a young woman who may have been a student, asked why Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg occupies much more of the public platform than does Justice O'Connor.
Without realizing the reflexive answer which matched my silent one, Mr. Thomas immediately answered: "Well, she's alive", and he noted that two films were released last year about Justice Ginsberg who cuts quite a public swath in town, out and about like she is.
Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg had a "cordial" relationship, the Thomases said. Justice O'Connor advised Justice Ginsburg about treatments for cancer which they both suffered.
They asked Justice Ginsburg if the rumors were true that she had driven her car twice into Justice O'Connor's car in (presumably) the Supreme Court parking garage.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Justice Ginsburg confirmed the rumors, adding that she was trying to avoid Justice Antonin Scalia's car. (Thomas said RBG was "the least shy person I've ever met.")
Scalia and O'Connor had a "bad relationship." More than once, the Thomases said that not all the justices like any other. (From their remarks, one can infer that some of the justices "tolerate" each another, more than their public appearances would suggest.)
Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg had a "cordial" relationship, the Thomases said. Justice O'Connor advised Justice Ginsburg about treatments for cancer which they both suffered.
They asked Justice Ginsburg if the rumors were true that she had driven her car twice into Justice O'Connor's car in (presumably) the Supreme Court parking garage.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Justice Ginsburg confirmed the rumors, adding that she was trying to avoid Justice Antonin Scalia's car. (Thomas said RBG was "the least shy person I've ever met.")
Scalia and O'Connor had a "bad relationship." More than once, the Thomases said that not all the justices like any other. (From their remarks, one can infer that some of the justices "tolerate" each another, more than their public appearances would suggest.)
After Justice Scalia publicly criticized Justice O'Connor, her clerks inserted "zingers" about Justice Scalia in some review materials, all of which Justice O'Connor deleted.
In an interview with the Thomases, Clarence Thomas told them he finally relented, praising Justice O'Connor as the "glue" which held the place together. (Said Evan Thomas: To those of you who don't know him, Clarence Thomas is a very funny man. (Let's laugh.))
The Thomases interviewed seven justices and 94 clerks, half of were women (why is that important?) among many others. I believe they said they met with Justice O'Connor six times. The O'Connor family urged all her colleagues, clerks, and others to welcome interviews by the authors.
She
rarely spoke ill of any of the justices, but, because of his "ideological position,'" she regretted that Samuel Alioto was named as her replacement.
She couldn't stand disharmony and did her level best to discourage it on the court, urging newcomer Justice Clarence Thomas repeatedly to please join the court for lunch when members discussed anything but court matters.
She couldn't stand disharmony and did her level best to discourage it on the court, urging newcomer Justice Clarence Thomas repeatedly to please join the court for lunch when members discussed anything but court matters.
In an interview with the Thomases, Clarence Thomas told them he finally relented, praising Justice O'Connor as the "glue" which held the place together. (Said Evan Thomas: To those of you who don't know him, Clarence Thomas is a very funny man. (Let's laugh.))
The Thomases interviewed seven justices and 94 clerks, half of were women (why is that important?) among many others. I believe they said they met with Justice O'Connor six times. The O'Connor family urged all her colleagues, clerks, and others to welcome interviews by the authors.
To keep up with her Supreme Court tasks, Justice O'Connor read about 1000 pages daily.
When President Ronald Reagan was presented the opportunity to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court in 1981 and was
given the name of a man (somebody Burns?), he said, "'Nope, go find me a woman.'"
Sandra Day O'Connor was confirmed by a vote of 99-0.
She was considered a "swing vote" who cast the deciding ballot in 330 cases and is generally considered the one who ultimately determined Bush v. Gore (5-4), and who, to this day, remains the target of criticism for that vote in the pages of the New York Times.
Evan Thomas said he thinks she cast the vote for Bush because she didn't want to drag out the process for the nation, she didn't like conflict, and "she is a Republican who did not like Al Gore, and maybe, deep inside her heart, that was a factor."
In 2013 she told the Chicago Tribune that perhaps the Supreme Court should not have taken the case.
When asked about the Kavanaugh hearings, Thomas said: "She would have hated" them "because they were contentious" and she could not bear discord. "I am projecting" here, he said, and "I'm not even sure she saw them."
She liked to cook and entertained her clerks on Saturdays. She made every recipe in a Julia Child cookbook. Her husband was always supportive, and they were quite active on the Washington social scene, often going dancing before they were overtaken by illness.
Sandra Day O'Connor was confirmed by a vote of 99-0.
She was considered a "swing vote" who cast the deciding ballot in 330 cases and is generally considered the one who ultimately determined Bush v. Gore (5-4), and who, to this day, remains the target of criticism for that vote in the pages of the New York Times.
Evan Thomas said he thinks she cast the vote for Bush because she didn't want to drag out the process for the nation, she didn't like conflict, and "she is a Republican who did not like Al Gore, and maybe, deep inside her heart, that was a factor."
In 2013 she told the Chicago Tribune that perhaps the Supreme Court should not have taken the case.
When asked about the Kavanaugh hearings, Thomas said: "She would have hated" them "because they were contentious" and she could not bear discord. "I am projecting" here, he said, and "I'm not even sure she saw them."
She liked to cook and entertained her clerks on Saturdays. She made every recipe in a Julia Child cookbook. Her husband was always supportive, and they were quite active on the Washington social scene, often going dancing before they were overtaken by illness.
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