On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer gave a speech on the Senate floor in which he claimed that “Until 1981, this powerful body, the Supreme Court, was all white men.”
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, with President Ronald Reagan nominating her in 1981. The Senate confirmed her nomination with a 99-0 vote on September 21, 1981. While O’Connor was the first woman to serve on the court, Schumer erred in saying that before her confirmation the court was “all white men.” President Lydon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall in 1967, and Marshall became the first black Supreme Court justice after the Senate confirmed him in a 69-11 vote.
Schumer later walked back his comments, tweeting that he “misspoke.”
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