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Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve as a justice on the United States Supreme Court and a critical swing vote for much of her tenure, revealed on Tuesday that she had dementia and had decided to withdraw from public life as the disease advanced. In a letter addressed to “friends and fellow Americans,” Justice O’Connor, 88, wrote that she was told she had early-stage dementia “some time ago” and that doctors believed it was most likely Alzheimer’s disease. (Haag, 10/23)

"As this condition has progressed, I am no longer able to participate in public life," she wrote. "Since many people have asked about my current status and activities, I want to be open about these changes, and while I am still able, share some personal thoughts." The letter comes a day after the Associated Press reported that O'Connor had stepped back from public life. (Morin, 10/23)

For much of her 24-year career on the court, she was its most influential justice, the one who decided the biggest cases. Overall, she had a moderate-conservative record, but she cast key votes to preserve abortion rights and to permit affirmative action admissions policies at universities. In 2000, she joined the 5-4 decision in the Bush vs. Gore case that halted the ballot recount in Florida and made George W. Bush president. But in the years afterward, she seemed to move somewhat to the left. She cast the key vote to uphold the McCain-Feingold Act and its limits on political campaign spending in 2003 and she argued for maintaining the separation of church and state. (Savage, 10/23)

Chief Justice John Roberts called O’Connor “a towering figure in the history of the United States and indeed the world.” “Although she has announced that she is withdrawing from public life, no illness or condition can take away the inspiration she provides for those who will follow the many paths she has blazed,” Roberts said in a statement. (Stohr, 10/23)

If Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, does indeed have Alzheimer's disease, the diagnosis and what is likely to come from it would be familiar to her. Her husband of more than 50 years died from complications of the disease in 2009. (Leingang, 10/23)