Janet Reno

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 this
first full biography of former United States attorney general Janet Reno (1938–2016),
Judith Hicks Stiehm describes the independent and unconventional life of a
woman who grew up on a rural South Florida homestead and rose to occupy one of
the top positions in the United States government, whose ethics and example
served 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 to
family papers and photos, as well as inside information from Reno’s own materials
and interviews with over 40 of Reno’s personal and professional acquaintances. Stiehm
begins by tracing Reno’s free-range childhood, her college years at Cornell and
experience at Harvard Law School as one of 16 women in a class of over 500, the
challenges she faced as a woman lawyer launching her career in 1960s Miami, and
her 15 years as Miami-Dade state attorney.

In 1993, Reno was appointed to serve
in Washington as United States attorney general in the Clinton administration,
the first woman to occupy the position in the history of the nation. Stiehm tells
how Reno engaged with the East Coast elite as an outsider, seen by many as
outspoken and eccentric—yet scrupulous,
uncompromising, and immune to influence. Stiehm explores the reasons behind Reno’s
decisions in cases she handled during her tenure, including the siege of the Branch
Davidians in Waco, Texas; Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation; the Oklahoma
City bombing; and the Elián González controversy.

            
Janet Reno’s life was
an illustration to many that it is possible to hold high office while
consistently speaking and acting on principle. This biography examines the guiding
forces that shaped Reno’s character, the trails blazed by Reno in her professional
roles, and the lasting influence of Reno on American politics and society to
this day.