Janet Reno, former U.S. attorney general, dies at 78
She was Bill Clinton’s third pick for attorney general. He had promised to nominate a woman for the post, but his first two choices — corporate lawyer Zoe Baird and New York federal Judge Kimba Wood — withdrew after allegations that they hired illegal immigrants as nannies.
Within a month of her appointment, Ms. Reno confronted a case that colleagues said would define the rest of her career: the standoff with followers of self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex.
Koresh had already killed four federal officers and had withstood a weeks-long standoff with the FBI when agents asked Ms. Reno to authorize a raid of the compound.
She gave the go-ahead for the agents to storm the building with tear gas, she said, after being convinced that children were being abused inside. During the raid, a fire broke out and engulfed the compound, killing all 80 or so...
Dr. David P Murray | 5/6/2012
