Over the course of nearly a quarter-century on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor became, in the eyes of many, the most powerful woman in America. A moderate conservative on an ideologically polarized Court, she often cast the deciding vote in 5-4 decisions dealing with some of the most important and contentious issues of public debate. Those votes were often accompanied by concurring opinions in which O'Connor sought to temper the more aggressive opinions of her peers, avoiding broad legal rules in favor of pragmatic decisions that applied specifically to the facts at hand. This distinctive approach to the law made her one of the best-known Supreme Court justices in recent history and, arguably, one of the most influential women in the history of the United States.