American Women! exhibit--Janet Reno

Janet Reno is a remarkable woman. After helping her parents build a home in the Florida Everglades, she worked her way through Cornell University and the Harvard Law School where she was one of only 16 women in a class of 500 students.

Despite her education, Reno found it difficult to find work as an attorney because she was a woman. In response, she focused her attention on criminal justice. In 1978, she was elected State Attorney for Dade County and was returned to office four more times.

President Clinton selected Reno to be the first woman U.S. Attorney General in 1993. Although her term has been marked by a number of controversies, she has been able to make significant progress on crime reduction, civil rights enforcement, environmental prosecution, and drug interdiction. She has served in her office longer than any other Attorney General in this century.

In her spare time, Reno enjoys hiking, reading poetry, and listening to music. When she was younger she also enjoyed wrestling alligators!

SEAL of the Department of Justice
OFFICIAL PORTRAIT of Attorney General Janet Reno
PLAQUE depicting Lady Justice holding the scales, gift to Reno from the Metropolitan Day Policemen
TOP COPS AWARD to Reno from the Association of Police Organizations
BILLY CLUB, gift to Reno
PHOTO depicting Reno with a crowd of children
-- On loan from the U.S. Department of Justice, Facilities and Administrative Services, Washington D.C.

Return to the "Into the 21st Century, 1990 onward" index page
	From Colony to Country, 1600-1800	From Jazz to War 1920-1950
	From Growth to Civil War, 1800-1870	From Fifties to Feminism, 1950-1990
	From Prairie to Polls, 1870-1920

View an alphabetical list of all 106 women included in American Women! with links to photos and biographies for selected women
View a Thank You to over 100 lenders to Ameican Women!
Return to American Women! index page
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