Janet Reno - Attorney General

Attorney General

In 1993 during the administration Bill Clinton, Reno was nominated and confirmed as the first woman to serve as the United States Attorney General. Both of his previous choices, Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood, had problems when it was revealed both had employed illegal immigrants as nannies. Reno remained Attorney General for the rest of Clinton's presidency, making her the longest-serving Attorney General since William Wirt in 1829.

While Clinton could steer a middle ground between his Democratic supporters and the Republican Congress on monetary issues, Reno's job was at the center of a variety of intractable cultural conflicts. This made her a lightning rod for criticism of the Clinton Administration from activists who often denounced the federal government as a threat to their fundamental freedoms.

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