The best of Notorious RBG on her 83rd birthday
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turned 83 on Tuesday, and was appropriately celebrated across the internet.
A stalwart liberal and feminist (and the oldest member of the highest court in the country,) Ginsburg has become a progressive icon — earning herself the title Notorious RBG.
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In honor of her birthday, here are some of our favorite facts about Ginsburg.
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She pregames the president
After Ginsburg was caught nodding off during President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address, Ginsburg admitted she "wasn't 100% sober."
Prior to Obama's speech, Ginsburg and her colleagues had dinner together, where she just had to have a drink.
"I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine," Ginsburg said.
She is a hugger
Every year, Obama seems to do a beeline for Ginsburg during his entrance to the House chamber ahead of his State of the Union addresses.
Here they are in 2016...
And 2015...
In 2011...
Even Hillary Clinton got in on the hug action in 2009 ahead of a joint session of Congress.
She's got A+ manners
If you send Ginsburg a note or a gift, it's likely she'll respond.
When a Redditor sent Ginsburg a lace collar for her courtroom robe, she sent back a handwritten note of thanks.
And when a lawyer sent Ginsburg an invitation to her wedding, Ginsburg replied with her regrets and warm wishes.
She's a style icon
Ginsburg is not afraid to take fashion risks.
From the ornate collars she wears over her judicial robes...
To the famous lace gloves...
To her colorful jackets...
Ginsburg rocks a unique personal style on and off the bench.
She also knows how to strike a pose, as evidenced by this selfie of the three female Supreme Court justices — Elena Kagan, Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
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She's always quotable
Ginsburg, the second female Supreme Court justice in history, has waxed poetic about many things, including women's rights, which has been one focus of her career.
She is often asked when there will be "enough" women on the Supreme Court. Her answer in 2012:
“And I say, when there are nine," Ginsburg said. "People are shocked. But there have been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
She's also been an advocate for equal sharing of childcare between men and women.
"Women will have achieved true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation," Ginsburg said in a 2001 interview.
And she believes women can have it all — but maybe not at once.
"Who—man or woman—has it all, all at once?" Ginsburg said in a 2014 interview with Katie Couric. "Over my lifespan, I think I've had it all. But in different periods of time things were rough. And if you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it."
She has bipartisan buddies
Ginsburg's ride-or-die friendship with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — whose views were often opposite to her own — could teach us all a lesson in bipartisanship.
Ginsburg said she and Scalia were "best buddies" and that they had the utmost respect for each other, even if they didn't always agree on cases before the court.
"From our years together at the D.C. Circuit, we were best buddies. We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation," Ginsburg said in a statement following Scalia's death.
The justices once took a vacation together in India not long after her confirmation to the court in 1994, which produced this incredible photo of the duo riding an elephant.
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Ginsburg and Scalia frequently attended operas together, and even once dressed up in this amazing garb in 1994.
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So happy birthday RBG!
We hope you enjoy a nice bottle of wine in celebration.
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Topics Politics Supreme Court
Emily Cahn is a political reporter at Mashable. Prior to Mashable, Cahn spent nearly four years at Roll Call, where she covered House and Senate races and congressional shenanigans. She has also been a copy editor at The Washington Post, and interned at The Hill, the Houston Chronicle and CBS News when she was a student at The George Washington University. Aside from being a political junkie, Cahn loves dogs and experimenting with cooking. Follow her on Twitter @CahnEmily, where she posts pictures of her family's two misbehaved poodles.
