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Janet Reno Stands Tall Seven years as Attorney General and Janet Reno is still the most misunderstood woman in Washington. The cool part is that she couldn't care less. Who would have thought that Janet Reno would become one of Bill Clinton's longest-serving cabinet members? Back in 1993, after all, she was his third choice for attorney general. The plainspoken state attorney for Dade County, Florida, was little known to Washington upon her nomination, and upon her arrival she never cozied up to D.C.'s power players. Then, just months into her term, came the fiasco at Waco, when Reno's decision to storm the Branch Davidian compound sparked a fiery chain reaction that led to the deaths of more than 80 people. While some Clintonites whispered that she wasn't a team player who was in over her head, Reno won the respect of Americans outside the Beltway by unflinchingly taking responsibility for the disaster. Those who know Reno weren't surprised - the attorney general had the kind of childhood that builds character. Her father was a crusading reporter for the Miami Herald; her mother, also a journalist, built the family's house on 21 acres in the Florida Everglades. Reno grew up surrounded by wildlife. Occasionally, she wrestled alligators. As the country's chief law enforcement official, Reno oversees a vast range of issues, from the appointment of special prosecutors to the supervision of the FBI. She has become increasingly active in the debate over gun-related violence and has led her department into a precedent-setting antitrust suit against Microsoft. George executive editor Richard Blow interviewed Reno in her office at the Department of Justice. The attorney general can be maddeningly vague when she doesn't want to answer a question. But she also has a dry sense of humor. And when she doesn't feel that she's talking out of school, she'll give a straight answer to a straight question. "I am who I am", she says. How many politicians could so comfortably say the same? Q: Let's discuss some of the issues you deal with. You talk a lot about Children and the importance of community. How does that fit in with the Justice Department? A: As a state attorney in Miami, I had to figure out what to do about crack-involved infants. We had to determine whether the children were treated as dependents, whether the mothers should be prosecuted. The doctors took me to a public hospital and showed me babies being kept there because their mothers were incapacitated. They had not been held or talked to, and they were not demonstrating physical reactions or emotions. The doctors taught me that the first three years of life are the most formative because that is when the person learns the concept of reward and punishment. And I suddenly thought, What good are all the prisons going to be 20 years from now if these children don't understand what punishment means? So I've seen crime prevention as a continuum throughout a child's life. Q: Is that why you traveled to Littleton after the school shootings? A: I think it's important that the government respond to national tragedies - not telling people what should be done but letting them know that America stands with them as they deal with this grief. Q: The visit must have been a very powerful experience. A: What you find in such situations is that you draw strength from the people - their ability to grieve and comfort one another. Q: Obviously, Columbine and the recent Atlanta shootings added to the debate about guns. What's your opinion of the lawsuits that cities around the country are bringing against gun manufacturers? A: We're reviewing those. Each situation is different because state laws differ with respect to the causes of action and the remedies available. Q: Is there any possible role for the Justice Department in those lawsuit? A: We'll see. Q: Are you sympathetic with the goals of the lawsuits? A: I wouldn't speak of that. But I just think we have a real chance to end the culture of violence in this country. Nobody should be permitted to possess a gun unless they have demonstrated the capacity to safely and lawfully use the weapon. That's just common sense. Back in 1993, you argued for the independent counsel statute. This year, you argued against it, and it has since expired. What changed? As a state court prosecutor, I had been used to a system whereby I could ask the governor of Florida to appoint another state attorney to investigate a matter and, if necessary, prosecute it. That was an elected person who had to operate within a budget and who had experience as a prosecutor. It worked well. In this situation, there's only one attorney general, so we didn't have a federal system in which [the decision to appoint a special counsel] could be given to someone else. Under the constitutional framework in which we operate, I would never be removed from the responsibilities for either the decision to ask for the special prosecutor or the decision to remove the special prosecutor. And if I were going to be responsible for it, then I ought to have the authority to carry it out. Q: Did Ken Starr make it tough for you to defend the independent counsel? A: I make it a policy not to comment on any independent counsel so as to ensure their independence. Q: What about the Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft? Are you satisfied with the prosecution? A: Again, I won't comment, except to say that I'm very proud of the people who put so much time and effort into it. Q: Critics of the case say that the law can't keep up with technology. What's your feeling? A: Our Constitution is more than 200 years old now, and it has kept up with so many developments. I think it can keep up with technology. Q: Okay, let's get away from policy matters for a minute. You have a portrait of former attorney general Robert Kennedy on your wall. What does that portrait mean to you? I look at him as an example. He became my favorite attorney general after he became one of my favorite senators, because I can remember him being very upset when his brother named him attorney general. [Tut-tuts] Nepotism, nepotism. But I came to admire him for his stand on civil rights, for his vision for children, for family, for equal access to the law. Q: Were you interested in politics as a girl? A: The first time I stayed up all night was the night [in 1948] that Truman beat Dewey. I woke up my parents the next morning and said, "It looks like Truman won." Q: Has your gender affected your approach to law enforcement or the way you're perceived in Washington? A: No. Q: No difference at all? A: No. Q: Do women in general bring a different approach to politics? A: I'm not sure that you can generalize, but I think women bring a more commonsense approach to issues. There's a tendency to try to find grounds of agreement. Let me give an example. It was a long time before we got courts, prosecutors, and police to really focus on domestic violence. When we did, I gave credit to the fact that more and more women who were appointed to the bench impressed their colleagues about why these cases are so important. Q: This administration has four female cabinet members - you, Donna Shalala, Madeleine Albright, and Alexis Herman - and all of you are unmarried. Is there more pressure to choose between family and career for women in politics than for men? A: I don't think so. I would have liked to marry and raise four children. Now, I don't know whether I would have become attorney general if I had gotten married and had four children, but I look at the extraordinary people around me, and I know that it is possible. Q: Do you regret not having married? A: No, because I have a wonderful family. I celebrated my birthday with my great-niece and my great-nephew. And I have wonderful friends who share their children with me. Q: Do you ever look back on the choices that you've made and wonder if you focused too much on work? A: So far, with all the choices I've had, I've been satisfied. Q: Would you ever consider adopting a child? A: At this point, I'm trying to do everything I can to make sure all the children of America have a chance for a strong and positive future. Q: But have you thought about adoption? A: I considered it before I became state attorney in Miami, in 1978. Q: And what made you decide that it wasn't the right thing? A: I thought about whether I could do the same job my mother did, raising us while working, and decided that I couldn't do so. Q: Your mother sounds like she was a remarkable woman. A: She was my best friend. She could also embarrass me more than anybody else I've ever known. Q: Because of what she did or what she would say about you to others? A: What she did, what she would say, what thoughts came into her mind. Q: Can you think of any examples? A: [Laughs] No, and I wouldn't say them if I did. I delivered the eulogy at her memorial service, and I said, "She could say 'I love you' better than anybody I've ever known, but if there's one thing I have to be thankful for, this afternoon, it's that she's not around to insult or embarrass anybody." And you could see this whole church, not knowing at first whether they should laugh, suddenly realizing that they could - and there was a rolling laugh across that church. She would have appreciated it. Q: I understand that she was a big believer in corporal punishment. A: Yes. Q: Are you? A: I have never spanked a kid that I was responsible for. Q: For lack of opportunity or lack of desire? A: Lack of desire. I always thought I could do it some other way. Q: Did you resent being spanked? A: Anybody resents being spanked. Except it was interesting - I sometimes resented my mother. I never resented the spanking I got from my father, because she reserved our worst transgressions for him and he always did it in a fair way. Q: Saturday Night Live has "Janet Reno's Dance Party". Spy magazine portrayed you as Rambo. How did you become such a pop culture icon? A: I don't know. It's for you [reporters] to speculate. But when kids come here for a meeting or when I go to a school, you can see some of the students start to giggle and then finally raise their hands. "Have you ever seen yourself on 'Saturday Night Live'?" You can see them holding their breath. And I say, "When somebody showed it to me, I laughed" and they relax and start laughing. They appreciate that people can laugh at themselves. Q: Have you seen yourself portrayed on 'Ally McBeal', when the character Fish finds himself irresistibly attracted to your wattle? A: The office brought in the tape one day, and I thought that was a hoot, too. But you know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to be able to get onto the set of 'Ally McBeal' without anybody knowing about it and then, at the appropriate time, when Ally is moaning and groaning about what's going on and what she's going to do, I'd say to her, "Young lady, if you just had confidence in yourself, you'd solve all your problems." Q: In a poll of Japanese men, the majority chose you as the woman they would most like to be with on a deserted island. How does it feel to be a sex symbol? A: Somebody told me about it, and I thought they were pulling my leg. The next day, the Japanese embassy sent me flowers. Q: In 1995, you were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. How much does that bother you? A: Some days it does, some days it doesn't. [Points to her hands] This is the primary symptom. Some days I get stiff, but I think that's from lack of exercise in this [right] hand, because of the shaking of this hand. Q: Is that frustrating? A: No, I just think of what it must be like for people who have difficulties, who stutter, who have cancer. And you think, Gosh, I'm fortunate. Q: Do you worry about it getting worse? A: No. Q: Not at all? A: No. I know it's going to get worse. But I watched my mother die of lung cancer. I watched other people I loved die of different things. We're all going to die someday. So far, I think I'm fortunate. Q: What do you say to the people who have urged you to speak out more about parkinson's? A: I have told the people I love and have confidence in, "If you ever see me impaired so that I couldn't be attorney general, let me know." Otherwise, I just do my job. Q: And that's how you set an example? A: That's the point I make. A lot of people tell me, "I've derived such courage from watching you, and I can deal with my Parkinson's or other disease better because of it." I'm very happy that I can do that. I represent the interests of all the people of the United States, not just some, and I think I can use the time after I leave office to speak out on this issue. Q: Is there anything that Parkinson's has affected your ability to do? A: It's harder to take notes of everything at a congressional hearing. Q: Has your handwriting changed? A: My handwriting has changed. It's wiggly, unless I write very carefully. Q: I understand you like to kayak. That's not your typical Washington activity. A: Well, I don't know how many people like to go kayaking and expect to turn over because they don't know how to do it, so they take along a gallon jug with the top cut out to bail out the kayak. Q: You've mentioned that when you leave your position, you plan to drive around the country in a pickup truck. Were you serious? A: Mm-hmm. Q: Have you mapped out a route? A: Nope. Q: Do you have the truck? A: Don't have the truck yet, don't have the route yet. I'm going to go sailing with my brother on his boat, so people will forget what I look like. And then I'm going to put on a battered old hat, take friends from around the country, and look at this country. Q: Will you miss Washington? A: I have enjoyed Washington immensely. Nobody realizes that within 14 miles [of downtown] is some of the most beautiful wilderness in the world. Q: How about the other kind of Washington wilderness? A: [Laughs] That's been interesting, too. Q: The line on you is that you connect with folks outside Washington, but people here don't get you because you're not a Washington animal. Is that a fair assessment? A: I don't know what a Washington animal is. I've certainly seen a variety of people in Washington. Q: Ostensibly, you don't conform to the prevailing culture of the capital. A: I'm not one who conforms to the prevailing culture of any place. Q: Another image that comes up again and again is a mythic portrayal of you, an image of you as a "swamp thing". A: That's not me, that's Mother. Q: But people are fascinated that you grew up in the house that your mother built, surrounded by wild animals - almost as if you're a Davy Crockett figure. A: I think that's just a media creation. Q: Really? What's wrong with that picture? A: Well, I'm not a Davy Crockett figure. A lot of people have been brought up around animals. That doesn't make them Davy Crockett. Q: Yes, but how many people have wrestled alligators? A: [Laughs, holding up hands about two feet apart.] They were small alligators. George Magazine On-Line <http://www.georgemag.com/reno1.htm> janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset 613 256 8340 po box 171 almonte ontario canada K0A 1A0 a new voice: <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/> <[log in to unmask]>