Janet Reno: A Life

The long-awaited biography of the first woman to serve as United States attorney general, written with exclusive access to the personal archives of Reno and her family and based on over 40 interviews with Reno’s friends and colleagues In thisfirst full biography of former United States attorney general Janet Reno (1938–2016),Judith Hicks Stiehm describes the independent and unconventional life of awoman who grew up in a rural South Florida homestead and rose to occupy one ofthe top positions in the United States government, whose ethics and exampleserved as inspiration for women in law and politics across the nation. In telling Janet Reno’s story,Stiehm incorporates personal details from her full and exclusive access tofamily papers and photos, as well as inside information from Reno’s own materialsand interviews with over 40 of Reno’s personal and professional acquaintances. Stiehmbegins by tracing Reno’s free-range childhood, her college years at Cornell andexperience at Harvard Law School as one of 16 women in a class of over 500, thechallenges she faced as a woman lawyer launching her career in 1960s Miami, andher 15 years as Miami-Dade state attorney. In 1993, Reno was appointed to servein Washington as United States attorney general in the Clinton administration,the first woman to occupy the position in the history of the nation. Stiehm tellshow Reno engaged with the East Coast elite as an outsider, seen by many asoutspoken and eccentric—yet scrupulous,uncompromising, and immune to influence. Stiehm explores the reasons behind Reno’sdecisions in cases she handled during her tenure, including the siege of the BranchDavidians in Waco, Texas, Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation, the OklahomaCity bombing, and the Elián González controversy. Janet Reno’s life wasan illustration to many that it is possible to hold high office whileconsistently speaking and acting on principle. This biography examines the guidingforces that shaped Reno’s character, the trails blazed by Reno in her professionalroles, and the lasting influence of Reno on American politics and society tothis day.