Janet Reno, the first woman to become Attorney General of the United States, passed away on Monday in her Miami-Dade County, Florida home from complications of Parkinson’s disease. She was 78.
Janet was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in November 1995, while she was still in office.
Via NY Times:
Ms. Reno’s tenure as attorney general was bracketed by two explosive events: a deadly federal raid on the compound of a religious cult in Waco, Tex., in 1993, and the seizing in 2000 by federal agents of Elián González, a young Cuban refugee who was at the center of an international custody battle and a political tug of war.
In those moments, and others in between, Ms. Reno was applauded for a straightforward integrity and a willingness to accept responsibility, but she was also fiercely criticized. Republicans accused her of protecting President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore when, in 1997, she refused to allow an independent counsel to investigate allegations of fund-raising improprieties in the White House.
My condolences and prayers go out to Janet’s family and friends during this difficult time.
