Retirement and Death
Stewart announced his retirement from the Court on June 18, 1981 and stepped down in early July at the age of 66. He was succeeded by Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
At the time of his retirement Justice Stewart said he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren and that he wanted to retire from the Court while he was still in good health.
After his retirement, he appeared in a series of public television specials about the United States Constitution with Fred W. Friendly.
He died in 1985 after suffering a stroke near his vacation home in New Hampshire, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Most of Stewart's personal and official papers are archived at the manuscript library of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where they are now available for research. The files concerning Stewart's service were closed to researchers until all the justices with whom Stewart served had left the court; the last of these was Justice John Paul Stevens who considered him his judicial hero. Additional papers also exist in other collections.
In 1985, upon Stewart's death, Bob Woodward disclosed that Stewart had been the primary source for The Brethren.
Read more about this topic: Potter Stewart
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