President Joe Biden heralded the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as a pioneer devoted to the defense of American values as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court was laid to rest on Tuesday. 

Biden began his remarks by recounting his tenure on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which he served as the top Democrat. The president recalled a pivotal meeting of the panel roughly 40 years ago. 

“The day’s business was momentous: the nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first woman in American history to serve as a Supreme Court justice on the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said. 

“To her, the Supreme Court was bedrock, the bedrock of America. It was the vital line of defense for the values and the vision of our republic,” the president said of O’Connor, who died Dec. 1 at age 93. 

The late justice retired from the high court in 2006 after nearly a quarter of a century on the bench. She also spent time in the Arizona State Legislature with Biden noting as “the last justice to have held elected office, she was especially conscious of the law’s real impact on people’s lives.” 

The president went on to hail the barriers O’Connor broke down in both “legal and political worlds,” describing the Arizona native as dedicated to the pursuit of the American promise that we are all “created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.” 

O’Connor, Biden said, helped “open doors, secure freedom and prove that a woman cannot only do anything a man can do, but many times do it a heck of a lot better.” 

A rancher’s daughter and a consistent voice of moderate conservatism on the high court, O’Connor came to be referred to by commentators as the nation’s most powerful woman.

“One need not agree with all her decisions,” Biden said of the justice appointed by former Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1981, “in order to recognize that her principles were deeply held and of the highest order.” 

“Her desire for civility was genuine,” the president continued. 

O’Connor wielded considerable influence on the nine-member court, generally favoring states in disputes with the federal government and often siding with police when they faced claims of violating people’s rights. Her impact could perhaps best be seen, though, on the court’s rulings on abortion. She twice helped form the majority in decisions that upheld and reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, the decision that guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion.

Thirty years after that decision, a more conservative court overturned Roe, and the opinion was written by the man who took her place, Justice Samuel Alito.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who briefly served on the bench with O’Connor, described her as a “strong, influential and iconic jurist” during his eulogy on Tuesday. 

“Her leadership shaped the legal profession, making it obvious that judges are both women and men,” he said. 

Biden's Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su sat next to the president during Tuesday's services. 

O’Connor retired at age 75, citing her husband’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She later expressed regret that a woman had not been chosen to replace her, but would live to see a record four women serving on the high court.

President Barack Obama awarded O’Connor the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

She died in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness. Her survivors include a brother, three sons and grandchildren.

The Associated Press contributed to this report