NIXON TAPES: Judge isn't "frigid b*tch" (John Mitchell)

John Mitchell
October 11, 1971
011-040
White House Telephone

President Richard Nixon talks with his Attorney General John Mitchell about the placement of a woman on the Supreme Court. Nixon came close to naming Judge Mildred Lillie as the first woman on the court (the honor later went to Sandra Day O'Connor). Nixon hoped that Lillie's religious affiliation (Catholic) and the ethnicity of her husband (Italian-American) might help win him more support in those communities. Mitchell tells Nixon that Lillie has a good personality and is not a "frigid b*tch."

Nixon's wife Pat, in particular, pushed him both publicly and privately to appoint a woman to the court, but he decided against appointing Judge Lillie after the National Bar Association declared that she was not qualified for the nation's highest court. Nixon appointed William Rehnquist instead.

(Photo: President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon walking their pet dogs.)

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