From History Daily: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

this day in history. In twenty minute episodes, Lindsay covers everything from historical battles to scientific breakthroughs to fashion firsts. In this episode, we go back in time to August tenth, nineteen ninety three, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as the US Supreme Courts one hundred and seven justice, becoming only the second woman in history to serve on the country's highest court. I hope you enjoy this story about Ruth and the groundbreaking ways she broke barriers for women.

If you do, check out History Daily for more true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Okay, here's the episode. Find History Daily wherever you get your podcasts, hit Follow or subscribe for daily episodes, as well as access to the History Daily Back catalog. It's July twentieth,

nineteen ninety three in Washington, DC. Inside the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing room, Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits before the Committee for the first day of her confirmation hearings. First to kick off the questioning is Committee Chairman Joe Biden. Let me begin now with the questioned. I like to begin by asking you about how you will go about

interpreting our constitution. Judge. For two hours, Ruth answers questions from the committee about her judicial philosophy and methodology, but throughout the hearing she was reluctant to answer questions about her personal views on certain issues. But there's one topic Ruth has no qualms about addressing, and this issue is going to be before the Court for a long time

in the future. But today, having opened the door on specific issues such as abortion, in my view, it's impossible as a matter of principle to distinguish dread Scott Vay, Sanford and the locker cases from the court substance to due process privacy cases. A licro versus Wade. The methodology is the same, the differences only and the results which hinge on the personal subjective values of the judge deciding

the case. At this Ruth's response is immediate. One case, the quote was affirming the right of one man to whold another man in bond, and the other and the other line of cases the court is affirming the right of the individual to be free. So I do see that there's a sharp distinction between the two lines. I think substantively there may be. But the fact of the matter is it's the same type of judicial reasoning without

the constitutional underpinnings. The position I have given you. If you ask me, how do I justify saying that Roe has two underpendings the equal dignity of the woman, the personhood, the idea of individual autonomy and decision making. I point to those two decisions and say that I think that they supply the underpinning. I understand that at least I differ with you. I'm using the Fourteenth Amendment to justus. At least you've found some constitutional underpinning, and I had

you know that one. I feel that it's wonderful for an academic or judge to be exposed to criticism. I've been criticized with saying that legislators have any role in this. I've been criticized with saying that the Court should not have solved at all, and one fell swoot. So I appreciate that I am never going to please all of

the people all of the time on this issue. I can only try to say what is my position in Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be the first Supreme Court nominee to offer such unflinching support about the constitutional right to abortion during a confirmation hearing. Twenty nine years later, video clips of her defense of abortion rights will go viral.

On the day the Supreme Court overturns Rove Wade in nineteen ninety three, Ruth's remarks on abortion will cause some senators to bristle, but in the end, Ruth will easily win her spot on the Supreme Court with a vote of ninety six to three in favor of her confirmation. Three weeks later, Ruth will become the first Jewish female justice and only the second woman in history to serve

on the United States Supreme Court. From the bench, Ruth will advance her pursuit for gender equality, becoming known as one of the Court's most ardent protectors of women's rights after she has sworn in on August tenth, nineteen ninety three. From Neuser and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History. Daily History is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and

events that shaped our world. Today is August tenth, nineteen ninety three, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sworn in as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. It's the fall of nineteen fifty six in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the home of the Harvard Law School's dean. Ruth sits at a dinner table alongside eight other female students. Together, Ruth and her peers comprised the only women in the class of over five hundred, but Ruth isn't surprised by their small number.

It was only six years ago that Harvard Law School even began admitting women at all. On campus. The dorms and the restrooms and many of the buildings are only for men, and by and large, female students like Ruth remain an anomaly. But Ruth doesn't mind. For her, attending Harvard is a dream opportunity. Two years ago, Ruth graduated from Cornell University as the highest ranking female student in

her class. A month later, she married her college boyfriend, Marty, and followed him to Oklahoma, where he served as an officer in the Army Reserve. There, Ruth worked for the Social Security Administration, but was demoted after becoming pregnant with her first child. Though there was little expectation for Ruth to be anything other than a mother, Ruth knew she

wanted more so. When Marty decided to return to law school at Harvard, Ruth saw her chance to pursue a career and law herself while still caring for their fourteen month old child. But to night, Ruth has stepped away from her child care duties to attend a dinner hosted by the dean for all the women in the college's first year class. As Ruth finishes her meal, she accepts a cigarette from another guest. As she takes it, Dean Griswald rises from his seat and ushers the women into

the living room. There, Ruth sees the room's chairs arranged in a horseshoe. As she sits down, Ruth grabs a nearby ashtrain places it in her lap. She listens as the dean asks each of the women appointed question what were they doing at the law school occupying a seat that could have been held by a man. The question catches Ruth and her fellow peers off guard. Ruth listens as the first student stands up and eases some of the tension in the room with her tongue and cheek answer.

Dean griswold, there are nine of us her, five hundred of them. What better place to find a man? The dean chuckles and moves on to the next student. One by one, the dean makes his way around the circle until he gets to Ruth. As Dean poses the same question to her, Ruth's nerves start to build. As she stands up, Ruth forgets about the ashtray still balanced on her lap. She blushes as it clatters to the ground, sending cigarette butts and ash all over the dean's living

room floor. Feverishly, Ruth apologizes for the mess, then she half heartedly mumbles an answer to Dean's question. She says she's at Harvard Law because her husband is in his second year at the college, and she thinks it's important for a wife to understand her husband's work. The response comes naturally to Ruth, but it's not her real answer. In truth, even though Marty is a year ahead of her, Ruth took the law entrance exams even before he did.

Ruth knows she isn't at law school because of him. She's at law school because she wants to study law. But Ruth still doesn't feel comfortable voicing her ambition as a woman. But eventually, Ruth's actions speak louder than her words ever could. In the ensuing, Ruth's drive and talent become apparent to everyone at Harvard Law. Before long, Ruth shoots to the top of her class. She even becomes one of the first women to serve as editor for

the college's esteemed Law Review. Still, Ruth faces her fair share of challenges in her classes. Professors rarely call on their female students at the library. Ruth has even denied access to the periodical room because she is a woman. But gender discrimination is only half of Ruth's battle at law school. In Ruth's second year at Harvard, tragedy strikes when her husband, Marty, develops testicular cancer. For Ruth, it's

an unfortunately familiar struggle. The day before her high school graduation, Ruth's mother died from cancer. Following the lass, Ruth became determined to live out the dreams of education and empowerment that her mother strove to instill in her. But with a sick husband and a young child, Ruth faces an uphill battle. So for months, Ruth strikes a delicate balance between looking after her daughter and taking care of her husband. She types his class notes and papers while also doing

her own school work. Often Ruth only sleeps for two hours a night, but somehow she manages to stay on top of it all. With Ruth's help, Marty receives his highest grades and graduates on time in the spring. But soon Ruth's journey at Harvard gets cut short when Marty lands a job in New York City. Eager to stay with her husband, Ruth transfers to Columbia, where she earns her law degree and graduates at the top of her class.

Upon graduation, Ruth will begin carving her path in the legal field, but despite her accolades and recommendations, Ruth will struggle to find work. One Supreme Court justice will decline to even interview her for a clerkship because she's a woman. But at the forceful insistence of one of her Columbia law professors, a judge in New York will eventually give Ruth a chance, and finally Ruth will have her foot in the door. From there she will rise through the

ranks of a field determined to shut her out. It's nineteen sixty nine at Rutgers University. Inside a classroom, Ruth proudly stands in front of a group of students. She is the law school second ever female professor, and today, as she gives her lecture, she reflects back on the journey that brought her here. After clerking for a judge in New York for two years, Ruth returned to academia.

In New York, Ruth worked as a research associate and then as an associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. Then, in nineteen sixty three, Ruth was offered a position teaching civil procedure at Rutger's Law School. The job was a great opportunity for Ruth, but it came with a disturbing caveat Ruth would be paid less than her male colleagues because her husband already has a

well paying job. Ruth accepted the offer, but she quickly joined an equal pay campaign with other women teaching at the university. Together, they filed a federal class action discrimination case, and one resulting in substantial raises for all of them. Since then, Ruth has been happily working at the university and become a popular professor within the law school. And today, Ruth's popularity brings her a new opportunity. As Ruth's lecture comes to an end, students begin to file out the doors,

but Ruth notices a group of students who stay behind. Together, they approach Ruth and ask her to lead a seminar on women and the law. Women's legal rights are not Ruth's current area of expertise, but Ruth does think it would be a worthwhile seminar to provide, and she bets it'll be a good learning experience for her students and her. As one of the only female law professors in the country, Ruth knows there are a few more qualified to teach

it anyways, so Ruth gladly accepts her student's proposal. Soon she gets to work preparing her new course. But as Ruth tries to develop the curriculum, she discovers there's very little information on the subject. Soon, Ruth realizes she has the opportunity to make an even bigger impact. Before long, Ruth volunteers as a faculty adviser to help found Rutgers Women's Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the United States to address women's rights exclusively. Than three years

after starting the seminar, Ruth takes on another project. She becomes the founder and director of the Women's Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union. There, Ruth sets her sights on using the courts to take on gender discrimination nationwide. Through her work with the Women's Rights Project, Ruth charts a strategic course. Rather than asks the court to end gender discrimination all at once, Ruth decides to attack the

problem in small increments. With each step she takes, she aims at a specific discriminatory statute and builds on each successive victory. And she also doesn't confine her cases to those with female plaintiffs. Instead, Ruth often picks male plaintiffs to help demonstrate the harm of gender discrimination to both women and men. With Ruth at its helm, the Women's Rights Project and other clu initiatives participate in more than

three hundred gender discrimination cases by nineteen seventy four. Between seventy three and seventy eight, Ruth herself argues six gender discrimination cases before the Supreme Court. Of the six, she wins five, and in each case, Ruth persuades the court to appreciate that the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection applies to discrimination based not just on race, but also

on sex. Then in October nineteen seventy eight, a new opportunity comes Ruth's way when Congress passes the Omnibus Judge Ship Act. Not only does this new law increase the number of federal judges and district and circuit courts, but it works to ensure that the judge ship is more diverse. Three months after the law passes, Ruth applies to be a nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and applies again for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Three months after that, President Jimmy Carner nominates Ruth to sit on the DC Circuit, where she will serve as a judge for thirteen years. Then, in nineteen ninety three, Ruth's biggest opportunity yet will come her way, one she previously never thought possible, the chance to serve on the highest court in the land. On June fourteenth, nineteen ninety three, President Bill Clinton will announce his nomination of Ruth Bader

Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. Two months and several days of confirmation hearings later, Ruth will become the US Supreme Courts one hundred and seventh Justice, carrying with her a vision of a more equal and just society. It's August tenth, nineteen ninety three. At the White House. Their Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, President Bill Clinton, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg gathered

before a small crown for her swearing in ceremony. Camera's flash and applause thunders as the three take their spot on a small stage at the front of the room. Please be seated. Welcome to the White House. Here's my distinct honor to introduce the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As a hush falls over the audience, Ruth places her

hand on a bible and takes her off. Justice Ginsburg, will you raise your right hand and repeat after me, I, Ruth Vader Ginsburg, do solemnly swear, I'm Vader Ginsberg, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States. As Ruth finishes, she breaks out into a wide grin So help me, God, So help me God. The crowd erupts an applause, and, blinking back tears, Ruth steps in front of the stage's

lectern and begins her prepared address. Times are changing. The President made that clear by appointing me and just last week naming five other women to Article three courts. Ruth smiles again as she mentions a quote she enjoyed hearing from her only other female colleague on the bench. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently quoted Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Gene Cooin, who was asked do women judges decide cases differently by

virtue of being women? Justice Coinn replied that in her experience, a wise old man and a wise old woman reached the same conclusion. I agree, but I also have no doubt that women, like persons of different racial groups and ethnic origins, contribute what a fine jurist. The late Fifth Circuit Judge Alvin Ruben described as a distinctive medley of views influenced by differences in biology, cultural impact, and life experience.

A system of justice will be the richer for diversity of background and experience, it will be the poorer in terms of appreciating what is at stake and the impact of its judgments if all of its members are cast from the same mold. Then Ruth ends her speech on an optimistic note. In my lifetime, I expect there will be among federal judicial nominees, based on the excellence of their qualifications, as many sisters as brothers in law that prospect.

That prospect is indeed cause for hope, and its realization will be cause for celebration. Thank you. Ruth Bader Ginsburg will serve on the Court from nineteen ninety three until her death from cancer in twenty twenty. Her twenty seven year tenure on the Court and her lifetime of advocacy for the legal equality of Americans will turn Ruth into a revered figure in the women's rights movement and earn

her the Roosevelt Freedom Medal in twenty fifteen. Too many, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be remembered as one of the pioneers of gender equality, someone who broke barriers herself when she was sworn into the highest court in the land on August tenth, nineteen ninety three. Next, on History Daily, August eleventh, nineteen fifty, the alleged trader Ethel Rosenberg is arrested on allegation a spine for the Soviet Union from Neuser and Airship. This is History Daily, hosted, edited and

executive produced by me Lindsey Graham. Audio editing and sound designed by Molly Bond. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written in research by Alexandra Curry Buckner. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Neuser.