← Harold's Old Time Radio
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Now, the rest of the story. It was 56 years ago. Bill was a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. That was a law firm in Los Angeles. It could be considered unfair to mention the name in connection with what happened back then. After all, he had no idea what he was doing. But it all started like this. One morning, a woman walked into his office. She was seeking employment. Bill greeted her warmly. Please have a seat. Smiling, she did. She was asked to tell a little about herself. All right. She was born in El Paso, Texas, eldest of three children. She had attended a private grade school and a public high school. Now, her father had always wanted her to attend Stanford University. She completed her undergraduate studies, completed law school in five years, graduated third in her class. And here she was at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher in search of her future. Bill was quite impressed with the young lady's academic accomplishments. And he added what he believed was the ultimate compliment. Few west coast law firms would consider such a thing, Bill said, but Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher was about to hire a woman as a legal secretary. But at that moment, the young woman's beaming expression faded. A secretarial job. That was not exactly what she had in mind. Well, what then? Bill asked. And she replied that she'd hoped to become a lawyer. Now, you got to remember, this was 56 years ago. This was 1952. And so, politely as he could, Bill explained that such a thing was out of the question. He begged her to reconsider his offer of the legal secretary's position. Otherwise, out there in the real world, she would simply learn just how generous that offer had been. Indeed, she had already learned. The young woman had already visited virtually every law office in Los Angeles, San Francisco. So this job offer from Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher was the first offer of any kind. But you know what? Partly out of pride and partly because she was convinced there were better things, the young lady turned down that secretarial job and went her way. Now, Bill, the law partner who had so disappointed that young law school graduate in 1952, he continued to enjoy the substantial success in the practice of law, culminating in his appointment to the position of United States attorney general in 1980. Oh, yes, you remember the name William French Smith. And you remember another name, that of the disheartened young woman whose dream, William French Smith, did not make contact, come true. You see, once upon a time, the law firm of Gibson, Dun and Crutcher turned away an aspiring young lawyer who might have become that firm's first ever female attorney. She could have settled for legal secretary instead. She, Sandra Day O'Connor, became the first ever woman justice of the United States Supreme Court. It was a long road, she would later confide. And that was so only now you know the rest of the story.