Mary Jo White (born December 27, 1947) was the first woman to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, serving from 1993 to 2002.
White was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in McLean, Virginia. She received her B.S. from the College of William and Mary in 1970 and her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1974.
White became Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in December 1992, and in March 1993 was appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. She is noted for having overseen prosecutions of John Gotti and the terrorists responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing chief among them Ramzi Yousef. After Clinton's controversial last day presidential pardons, she was appointed by new Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate Marc Rich's pardon. She is currently chair of the litigation department at Debevoise & Plimpton.
Famous quotes containing the words mary and/or white:
“O how terrible it must be for a young man—
seated before a family and the family thinking
We never saw him before! He wants our Mary Lou!
After tea and homemade cookies they ask What do you do for a living”
—Gregory Corso (b. 1930)
“I am fifty-two years of age. I am a bishop in the Anglican Church, and a few people might be constrained to say that I was reasonably responsible. In the land of my birth I cannot vote, whereas a young person of eighteen can vote. And why? Because he or she possesses that wonderful biological attribute—a white skin.”
—Desmond Tutu (b. 1931)