Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead: Hillary Clinton Honors Late Supreme Court Justice for Paving the Way for Women

09/19/2020 11:38 am EDT

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shared a brief message Friday evening to honor the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg died at age 87 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court said. Clinton's husband, President Bill Clinton, nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993.

"Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me. There will never be another like her. Thank you, RBG," Clinton wrote in a tweet Friday. President Clinton has not commented yet. Ginsburg died at her Washington, D.C. home with her family by her side, the Court said. Chief Justice John Roberts called Ginsburg a "justice of historic stature" and a "cherished" colleague. "Today we mourn, but with confidence, that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tired and resolute champion of justice," Roberts wrote.

In October 2019, Clinton told an audience at Georgetown Law that she played a role in convincing President Clinton that Ginsburg should be nominated to the Court. "I knew that of all the people who were part of the women's movement, she was one of the key players because of her creative understanding of the law and her sense of commitment," Clinton said, with Ginsburg by her side, reports CNN. "I may have expressed an opinion or two about the people he should bring to the top of the list."

During that same event, President Clinton said it was a "real struggle" to organize a secret interview with Ginsburg. Ten minutes into the interview though, he understood that Ginsburg was right for the job. At the time, "judges were seen by many people as an extension of politics," the former president said, adding that he wanted to nominate someone who understood everyone lives "under the same set of rules." Ginsburg joked that President Clinton was also worried about her age, but assured him that was "unnecessary." At the time, President Clinton nominated Ginsburg; she was 60.

In February, Clinton honored Ginsburg at the DVF Awards in Washington, where she was presented with the Lifetime Leadership Award. During the event, Ginsburg said she was still an "optimist for the future," since she had seen so many changes in her life. "Change comes from a groundswell of ordinary people … like-minded people who join together to get things done. And men have to be part of the effort," Ginsburg said.

Before Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court, she was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, who called her a "powerful legal mind and a staunch advocate for gender equality." Ginsburg was a "beacon of justice during her long and remarkable career," Carter said.

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