"My concern was whether I could do the job of a justice well enough to convince the nation that my appointment was the right move"
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Anxiety, here, isn’t personal insecurity so much as institutional triage. Sandra Day O'Connor frames her “concern” not around ideology or ambition, but around legitimacy: could she perform “well enough” to persuade “the nation” that her appointment was “the right move”? That choice of audience matters. A justice is appointed by presidents and confirmed by senators, yet O'Connor’s imagined jury is public opinion, the broader civic story Americans tell themselves about who belongs in power.
The line also reveals the peculiar burden of being first. O'Connor wasn’t merely starting a new job; she was entering as a test case. The subtext is unmistakable: if she faltered, it wouldn’t read as one person struggling with an impossible workload, but as evidence that the experiment of placing a woman on the Supreme Court had been premature. Her standard for competence becomes performative in the most serious sense: judicial excellence as a public argument, not just a private ethic.
“Right move” is doing quiet rhetorical work, too. It concedes that her appointment was seen as a move - a political act, a signal, a wager - rather than an uncontroversial meritocratic outcome. O'Connor meets that skepticism head-on without naming it, translating the culture war around representation into a professional obligation: earn trust by doing the job with unmistakable rigor. The sentence carries the weight of precedent, not only in law, but in who gets to embody it.
The line also reveals the peculiar burden of being first. O'Connor wasn’t merely starting a new job; she was entering as a test case. The subtext is unmistakable: if she faltered, it wouldn’t read as one person struggling with an impossible workload, but as evidence that the experiment of placing a woman on the Supreme Court had been premature. Her standard for competence becomes performative in the most serious sense: judicial excellence as a public argument, not just a private ethic.
“Right move” is doing quiet rhetorical work, too. It concedes that her appointment was seen as a move - a political act, a signal, a wager - rather than an uncontroversial meritocratic outcome. O'Connor meets that skepticism head-on without naming it, translating the culture war around representation into a professional obligation: earn trust by doing the job with unmistakable rigor. The sentence carries the weight of precedent, not only in law, but in who gets to embody it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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