Janet Reno, first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, dies
Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton, has died at 78 from complications of Parkinson's disease, her goddaughter said.
Reno, who spent her final days at home in Miami surrounded by family and friends, served nearly eight years as attorney general, from 1993 to 2001 - the longest stint in a century.
Her time in office coincided with some major controversies that marked the Clinton administration: the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff, where Davidian sect leader David Koresh and some 80 followers died; Whitewater, Filegate, bungling at the FBI laboratory, Monica Lewinsky, alleged Chinese nuclear spying and questionable campaign financing in the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election.
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Known for her blunt, polarising style, Reno frequently told the public "the buck stops with me," borrowing the mantra from President Harry S. Truman.
In the spring of 2000, Reno authorised the armed seizure of 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the Little Havana home of his Miami relatives so he could be returned to his father in Cuba. That enraged her hometown's Cuban-American community.
In 2002, Reno ran for Florida governor but narrowly lost in the Democratic primary.
During her time in office, Reno also oversaw the convictions of several bombers including Ted Kaczynski -- infamously known as "Unabomber" -- Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for their roles in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing; and Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman for the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
