o'connor was appointed to the supreme court in 1981 by president ronald reagan. reagan said while running for president that he wanted a woman to be on the supreme court and promised to nominate a woman for the job the first chance he got. one of her biggest supporters was arizona senator barry goldwater, who helped make sure that all 100 senators voted to confirm her. while on the supreme court, she was involved in several major supreme court decisions including: bush v. gore, which had to do with a disputed election; planned parenthood v. casey which involved a woman's right to privacy. she was also involved in lawrence v. texas, a case about whether burning a us flag was free speech. she retired from the court in 2006. sam alito was chosen to replace her. on august 12, 2009, she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. this is the highest civilian honor of the united states. it was given by president barack obama.