Historically, Janet Reno is the first female United States Attorney General and the longest serving in the 20th century. President Bill Clinton nominated her to the historic position in February 1993. She subsequently took oath that March and served until January 2001.

Janet Reno had her political head start with the raid of the Branch-Davidian cult at Waco, Texas. She controversially authorized the raid, which was carried out by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

Janet Reno was also involved in the international custody battle over Elián González, the six-year old Cuban shipwrecked in Florida. Gonzalez’s father wanted him back in Cuba, but the boy’s relatives in Miami wanted to naturalize him as an American. Janet Reno eventually passed judgment in favor of the father.

A strong personality, she dodged the planned merger of the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, which was championed by Vice President Al Gore. She was also notable for naming the most independent counsels to prosecute Bill Clinton and other administration officials.

In 1971, Janet Reno directed the staff working in the Florida House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee. Later on, the Florida Senate committee, one tasked to revise the state’s penal code, chose her as counsel.

In 1973, she segued to the Dade County State’s Attorney’s Office. She resigned in 1976 to work for Steel, Hector & Davis, a private law firm in Miami. She was thrust into public office again in 1978 as the newly appointed Dade County State Attorney General. In November, she became state attorney.

During her tenure, she created the Miami Drug Court, where nonviolent substance-abuse convicts can partake of an alternative penalty. She ran after fathers who defaulted on child support payments and reformed juvenile laws with equal aplomb. In addition, she created a special unit against career criminals.

She stayed on as state attorney for four more terms.

Janet Reno was born on July 21, 1938 in Miami, Florida to Henry Reno, a Danish immigrant and veteran Miami Herald reporter, and Jane Wood, a Miami News investigative reporter.

Despite her parents’ journalistic background, Janet Reno pursued a degree in chemistry at Cornell University. In 1960, she studied law — in a class dominated by males — at Harvard University. She earned her Bachelor of Law three years later. Even with her Harvard training, law firms were at first hesitant to accept her due to gender bias.

Janet Reno sat on the board of the Innocence Project, an organization that helped vindicate prisoners through DNA testing. She also drafted ameliorating provisions into existing legislation on child pornography.

News about Janet Reno:

Janet Reno honored for her work in justice.

The Washington Post profile of Janet Reno.