WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, was honored Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral.

President Joe Biden and Chief Justice John Roberts spoke at her funeral services, giving tribute to O’Connor’s monumental legacy.

“Sandra Day O’Connor was a pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers of the legal and political worlds — and the nation’s consciousness,” Biden said.

Biden recounted the moments he was a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that confirmed O’Connor’s nomination in 1981.

“How she embodied such great attributes under such pressure and scrutiny helped empower generations of women in every part of American life,” the president said. “She proved that a woman can not only do anything that a man can do but many times do it a heck of a lot better.”

“She was a strong, influential and iconic jurist,” Roberts said. “She was so successful that the barriers she broke down are almost unthinkable today.”

A tribute service was held Monday for O’Connor, where she laid in repose. All nine current Supreme Court justices attended as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff.

Many hailed O’Connor as a trailblazer for women in the field of law. She died Dec. 1 at 93 years old.

Her death was announced by the Supreme Court, citing complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.

She was named as the high court’s first female jurist by then-president Ronald Reagan in 1981 and sworn in as a Supreme Court justice by Chief Justice Warren Burger, ending 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court.

A rancher’s daughter who was largely unknown on the national scene until her appointment, she received more letters than any other member in the court’s history in her first year and would be referred to by commentators as the nation’s most powerful woman.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that O’Connor had “an extraordinary understanding of the American people” and never lost sight of how high court rulings affected ordinary Americans.

She was also instrumental in bringing the justices together with regular lunches, barbecues and trips to the theater.

The former justice was widely known for being a swing vote on the court. She will be remembered for writing landmark opinions on both abortion access and affirmative action.

She twice helped form the majority in decisions that upheld and reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, the decision that said women have a constitutional right to 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.

She was also a key vote in the ruling allowing George W. Bush to win the 2000 presidential election.

O’Connor retired at age 75, citing her husband’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease as her primary reason for leaving the court. John O’Connor died three years later in 2009. After her retirement, she expressed regret that a woman had not been chosen to replace her.

She remained active, sitting as a judge on several federal appeals courts, advocating for judicial independence and serving on the Iraq Study Group. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

At the service held Monday, Sotomayor delivered remarks, calling O’Connor both a legend and a friend while many onlookers continued to marvel at her accomplishments.

“I knew that Sandra would open the door for women in the law and serve, and it’s an inspiration to girls across the country. Later on, she would often say that it was good to be the first, but didn’t want to be the last,” Sotomayor said.

The University of Kansas School of Law also took the time to reflect on O’Connor’s legacy and what she gave back to the community.

“Today we remember retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court. During a 2010 visit to KU, she reconnected with the KU law team who won the 1984 National Moot Court Competition,” the university wrote in a post on social media.

The family has asked that donations be made to iCivics, the group she founded to promote civics education.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.