THE SUPREME COURT: The Overview; CLINTON NAMES RUTH GINSBURG, ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN, TO COURT

President Clinton today chose Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose litigation on behalf of women's rights helped transform the legal landscape in the 1970's, to become the first Supreme Court Justice picked by a Democratic President in 26 years.

If confirmed, Judge Ginsburg, whose first job out of Columbia University Law School was as a legal secretary, would be the second woman to serve on the High Court, joining Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She would also be the first Jew to serve on the Court since Justice Abe Fortas resigned in 1969. Unpredictable Center

In her 13 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the 60-year-old Brooklyn-born judge has occupied an unpredictable center on a panel that has grown into rigidly hostile ideological camps. She has ruled in favor of abortion rights, but has also criticized the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion a Constitutional right, saying it went too far, too fast.

Mr. Clinton made it clear at the announcement in the Rose Garden this afternoon that he hoped her independence from the right and left would make her a conciliator on the Court.

"I believe that in the years ahead she will be able to be a force for consensus-building on the Supreme Court, just as she has been on the Court of Appeals, so that our judges can become an instrument of our common unity in the expression of their fidelity to the Constitution," Mr. Clinton said. [ Transcript, page A24. ] Surprise Selection

Tears rolled down the President's face at the closing of Judge Ginsburg's remarks, as she offered a tribute to her late mother. "I pray that I may be all that she would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons."

The selection of Judge Ginsburg stunned lawyers and jurists, and even many Administration officials who said as recently as Sunday that they expected Mr. Clinton to name Judge Stephen G. Breyer, who had been waiting in Washington for an announcement and, friends said, had been told to draft an acceptance speech.

Senior aides to Mr. Clinton, including the White House counsel, Bernard Nussbaum, had recommended Judge Breyer, according to officials involved.

But White House officials said that in the final days of a search that lasted nearly three months, Mr. Clinton had a change of heart. They said Mr. Clinton was not entirely comfortable with Judge Breyer after they met on Friday and felt that the two were not, in the words of one person, "on the same wavelength." Injured and Exhausted

Friends of Judge Breyer said today that he may have come across poorly because of injuries he suffered in a recent bicycling accident. After his interview, the friends said, the judge asked to lie down in Mr. Nussbaum's office.

In any event, officials said, Mr. Clinton asked shortly after his lunch with Judge Breyer to see the early background checks on Judge Ginsburg as well as some of her legal opinions.

White House officials said the disclosure over the weekend that Judge Breyer had not paid Social Security taxes on the wages of his part-time housekeeper was not viewed as a disqualifying factor. Judge Ginsburg, they said, had paid all her taxes and never hired illegal immigrants. "She's clean," said George Stephanopoulos, a senior Clinton adviser.

The officials said that in contrast to Judge Breyer, Judge Ginsburg won Mr. Clinton over when they met for 90 minutes at the White House residence on Sunday as his aides hastily completed the background check.

Mr. Clinton said as much to reporters at a photo session later today. "There were two or three others that I thought were exceptionally well qualified," he said, "but once I talked to her, I felt very strongly about her. This is not a negative thing on them."

The officials said the President assembled his senior aides about 5 P.M. on Sunday to tell them of the choice.

Then, after a barbecue for White House reporters, the officials said, Mr. Clinton made nine telephone calls about his decision to senior senators, including Joseph R. Biden Jr., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on the nomination.

Mr. Clinton tried but was unable to reach Bob Dole, the Senate Republican leader, though he did speak with Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, officials said. Late-Night Phone Call

Judge Ginsburg got the first inkling of her appointment at 11 P.M., when Mr. Nussbaum called her at home and told her not to go to sleep because the President wanted to talk to her.

At 11:33, immediately after he finished watching the Phoenix Suns defeat the Chicago Bulls in their triple-overtime basketball game, Mr. Clinton called Judge Ginsburg at her apartment at the Watergate complex from the kitchen in the White House residence. But the connection was bad, aides said, so he told her he would call back, saying, "If I'm going to propose, we might as well have a good line."

The President dialed the call himself and offered Judge Ginsburg the job, the officials said. At 11:55, he called Judge Breyer with the news, and shortly afterward, called Mr. Babbitt.

White House officials, concerned today that Mr. Clinton had appeared to waver in the face of criticism of Judge Breyer, sent seven senior officials to a briefing room after the President's announcement to give reporters their version of the events that led to the selection.

The officials gave the briefing on the condition that they not be identified. White House officials did not return telephone calls seeking an explanation of why the officials insisted on anonymity.

In earlier interviews, White House officials said that Judge Ginsburg's name had come up early in the selection process but that she was among those Mr. Clinton passed over as uninspired. They also said there were concerns that women's groups would object to her criticism of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision. Groups on both sides of the abortion issue today raised questions about Judge Ginsburg's position.

White House officials said the choice of Judge Ginsburg for the seat of Justice Bryon R. White, who is retiring, reflected Mr. Clinton's precarious political position. They said he had narrowed his choice to Bruce Babbitt, the Interior Secretary, but last Tuesday changed his mind after an outcry from environmentalists and Western lawmakers who did not want to lose Mr. Babbitt in the Cabinet and from Republicans who questioned his qualifications.

Then, the officials said, Mr. Clinton was on the verge of announcing his choice of Mr. Breyer, the chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston.

In his remarks today, Mr. Clinton cited Judge Breyer and Mr. Babbitt as "among the best" candidates, and said they "may well find themselves" on the Court. But he said he was "flooded with calls across America from Babbitt admirers who pleaded with me not to put him on the Court and take him away from the Interior Department."

And he said he "carefully considered" Judge Breyer, "a man whose character, competence and legal scholarship impressed me very greatly." Angry Response to Question

Mr. Clinton abruptly left the lectern after responding testily to the first question posed by a reporter, who asked whether there was a "zig-zag quality" in his decision-making.

"I have long since given up the thought that I could disabuse some of you turning any substantive decision into anything but political process," he said as he was applauded by many politicans in the audience. Referring to Judge Ginsburg's emotional remarks about her mother, Mr. Clinton shook his head and added: "How could you ask a question like that after the statement she just made is beyond me."

The search process was longer and more public than any in decades and was marked by shifts by the President in whom he wanted to pick and the experience of the Justice he favored.

Aides said that early in the process, Mr. Clinton hoped to follow a tradition of years ago in which many Supreme Court justices came from political backgrounds. As an example, the President cited reminded aides of the 1954 Supreme Court, which rendered the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. That Court was dominated by former politicians and led by a former governor, Earl Warren of California. List of 42 Candidates

The top contender to fill this vacancy had been Gov. Mario M. Cuomo of New York, who surprised the White House when he withdrew from consideration. Then, officials said, the President turned to Richard W. Riley, the Education Secretary who is a former Governor of South Carolina. But Mr. Riley also withdrew.

Mr. Clinton abandoned his hope of finding someone with a political background once he decided that Mr. Babbitt should stay at the Interior Department, officials said.

White House officials said Mr. Nussbaum had compiled a list of possible candidates that was winnowed down to 42 after Justice White announced he planned to retire in early summer. Within weeks, they said they had put together legal and personal profiles, each 8 to 10 pages long, on the candidates.

The list was narrowed further during during 15 to 20 meetings that Mr. Clinton held with his staff, officials said. They played down Hillary Rodham Clinton's role in the process and said she did not meet Judge Ginsburg until today.

Some White House officials conceded there were flaws in the way the President went about finding a nominee: The announcement seemed to humiliate Judge Breyer, who had left a hospital bed in Boston to meet with Mr. Clinton on Friday amid widespread speculation that he would be selected. And the decision not to pick Mr. Babbitt made the President look as if he was pressured by political concerns. No Problems Foreseen

Some Administration officials said that while Mr. Clinton had known about Judge Breyer's tax matter, they also said they feared that it could create complications, and that Mr. Clinton viewed Judge Ginsburg as a nominee who would not generate disputes.

Lawmakers from both parties on Capitol Hill said today that they did not foresee any major problems for Judge Ginsburg.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Bob Dole, the Republican leader, praised Mr. Clinton for making a "good choice" who "undoubtedly has the experience and the intellect to hit the ground running if confirmed."

Senator Biden, whose Judiciary Committee hopes to hold hearings on the nomination before the monthlong August recess, commended Judge Ginsburg for "an impressive career in the law." And, echoing many of his colleagues, said "she was a pioneer in the area of women's rights and a staunch advocate of of equal rights."

Governor Cuomo said Judge Ginsburg would make "a very good Supreme Court justice." Support Ffrom Moynihan

Judge Ginsburg's biggest champion on Capitol Hill was Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, who said he would be her chief patron as the process went to the Senate.

Mr. Moynihan said that on a flight with the President to New York last month, Mr. Clinton asked him who his top choice would be. "I said, 'There's only one name: that's Ruth Bader Ginsburg.' " Among the others who pressed Mr. Clinton on Judge Ginsburg's behalf was Gov. Ann W. Richards of Texas.

During the background checks, White House officials said they learned that Judge Ginsburg's husband, Martin, a tax lawyer who teaches at the Georgetown University Law School, has been the lawyer for Ross Perot for many years. Mr. Perot donated $1 million in Mr. Ginsburg's honor to the university in 1986.

Judge Ginsburg, who was appointed to the Federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, would be the first justice chosen by a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson selected the late Thurgood Marshall in 1967.

In his remarks today, Mr. Clinton said he believed Judge Ginsburg would be a consensus builder. She would join two former colleagues who served with her on the District of Columbia Circuit: Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia.

"Let me say in closing," Mr. Clinton said, "that Ruth Bader Ginsburg cannot be called a liberal or conservative. She has proved herself too thoughtful for such labels."