WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Janet Reno, the first woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, died early Monday due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. She was 78.
Reno’s goddaughter, Gabrielle D’Alemberte, confirmed the news.
Janet Reno became one of president Bill Clinton’s administration’s most recognizable and polarizing figures. Reno came under heavy scrutiny early in her tenure after the deadly raid on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas. In the spring of 2000, the Miami native enraged her hometown’s Cuban-American community by authorizing the armed seizure of 5-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of his relatives so he could be returned to Cuba with his father.
However, she would go on to become the second longest serving attorney general in the history of the position. In 2002, Reno ran unsuccessfully for governor of Florida.
