Sandra Day was born March 26, 1930 in Arizona, but moved to El Paso, Texas, when she reached school age in order to be able to attend a private school. . After elementary school, Ms. Day attended Stanford University and received her bachelor's degree in economics. She then continued her studies at Stanford to obtain her law degree. She graduated from Stanford Law at the top of her class, but she was unable to secure a stable position at a law firm in California despite her accomplishments because in the early 1950s there were very few opportunities for women in law. Ms. Day married John Jay O'Connor shortly after graduation, earning the recognizable name Sandra Day O'Connor. When she was unable to find work at a law firm, O'Connor became an assistant district attorney for San Mateo County in 1952, then became a lawyer for the U.S. Army in Frankfurt, Germany, until 1957. O'Connor returned to the United States and Sandra opened a private practice in Phoenix, Arizona, where she practiced law until becoming an assistant attorney general of Arizona for four years in 1965. O'Connor is said to have progressed quickly in state politics by organizing major parties and working on Barry Goldwater's presidential bid in 1964, but it can also be said that her hard work and diligent legal mind helped her rise to the top. After serving as deputy state attorney general, she was appointed to the Arizona State Senate to fill a vacancy, and in 1970 she was elected as a Republican to a full term in the Senate. She served as Majority Leader from 1973 to 1974 and was the first woman to hold that position in a state Senate. As a legislator, O'Connor was enthusiastic about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, but she backed down when the National Republic...... middle of paper...... 2014Epstein, Lee and Thomas G. Walker. Constitutional law for a changing America. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2014. Print. Gill, Kathy. “Examining Swing Vote Cases in the Supreme Court.” About.com American politics. About.com, 2014. Web. April 29, 2014. Magnuson, Ed, Evan Phoenix and Joseph J. Kane. “The first sister of the brothers.” Time July 20, 1981: 10. Academic research completed. Internet. April 30, 2014. “Stenberg v. Carhart.” Commercial source completed. EBSCO, October 1, 2000. Web. April 29, 2014. Troy, Gil. "Why Ronald Reagan chose Sandra Day O'Connor — and why George W. Bush might want to follow her lead." History Information Network. Historical News Network, 2014. Web. April 29, 2014. Weisman, Steven R. “Reagan Nominates Woman, Arizona Appellate Judge, to Serve on Supreme Court.” » New York Times July 8, 1981: 1. nytimes.com. The New York Times Company, 2010. web. April 30. 2014.