Supreme Court Justice David Souter speaks during a dedication ceremony at the State Supreme Courthouse in Concord, N.H., in this July 2008 file photo.

Washington ? President Barack Obama pledged Friday to name a Supreme Court justice who combines “empathy and understanding” with an impeccable legal background to succeed liberal David Souter, whose abrupt retirement announcement set off speculation the next justice could be a woman, a Hispanic or both.

Obama, who will be making the first high court nomination by a Democrat in 15 years, pointedly referred to his plan to have “him or her” on the bench in time for the Supreme Court’s session that begins the first Monday in October.

“I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a case book. It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives,” Obama said in a surprise appearance in the White House Press Room moments after speaking with Souter by telephone. Word of the impending retirement had leaked Thursday night.

Souter’s retirement after almost two decades of unpredictable decisions gives Obama an early chance to place his stamp on the nine-member high court, possibly by naming a minority — a second black or the court’s first Hispanic — or a second woman.

Souter, 69, was named to the court in 1990 by the first President Bush, a Republican. But the New Hampshire native quickly proved himself to be less than the strong conservative the GOP had expected. In 2000, he was one of four dissenting justices on a ruling that declared President George W. Bush the winner of the disputed national election.

Officials disclosed that even before he took office, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, offered guidance to transition aides assigned to the judicial selection process — and personally offered names of people whom he would consider for the high court.

Some of the names that have been circulating outside the White House include recently confirmed Solicitor General Elena Kagan; U.S. Appeals Court Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Sandra Lea Lynch and Diane Pamela Wood; Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court; Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein; and U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo.