Robert M.A. Johnson

A Tribute

Janet Reno is truly extraordinary. I hold her in high regard over other government and business leaders with whom I have worked or had occasion to come to know. Why? Perhaps it is what I have come to value in a high official.

It is not her intelligence, although her solid grasp of difficult concepts and her attention to detail equals that of the best people in business and government. In the spring of 1998, I met with Janet Reno regarding revisions to Rule 4.2 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. I had worked on that rule for over a year, and I was impressed that she knew as much as I did, if not more, about the issues inherent in the application of the rule. But, the world has many smart people.

It is not her decisiveness, although, time after time, she has made the hard decisions. The questions of what to do at Waco and what to do with Elian Gonzalez are just two of many situations more difficult than most of us will ever encounter. But other business and government leaders have made difficult decisions.

It is not that she can work effectively in the face of extreme criticism, although she does, of course. It often seems that partisan Democrats and Republicans alike are unhappy with her decisions. Perhaps it is a mark of her impartiality that everyone is equally unhappy. Still, other leaders function effectively despite criticism.

So, what sets her apart from the rest? Setting aside partisan politics, Janet Reno possesses two characteristics that are superior in quality and quantity to those of any other person I have ever known. First is her humility. Many of us run offices, some large and some small, and we become caught up in the important work and the important people we encounter each day. At times, it may not be unusual for us to overlook our staffs or the daily concerns of the people touched by the criminal justice system. Janet Reno, however, runs a department employing over 100,000 people and has a budget exceeding that of many countries. Regardless of her heavy responsibilities, during each of the many times I have worked with her, I have been amazed and impressed by her genuine and earnest way of dealing with all people. I have seen her give the same attention to a junior staffer as a congressional committee. She demonstrates as much concern about those staff members who do her typing as those attorneys who undertake to implement her policies. It has become clear to me that virtually no person’s concern is beneath her caring and no person’s position is above her objective analysis. When she attends NDAA Board meetings, she comes not to tell us what to do, but rather to offer of herself and her time and to ask us to question her. Sometimes, it is easy to forget that she occupies the largest and most far-reaching prosecutor’s office in the United States—or, for that matter, the world. Each of us can take a lesson from her humble approach to handling extraordinary power.

The other characteristic that I find so remarkable is her absolute unwavering focus on the best interests of the American people. She appears to have no political or personal agenda. Articles, editorials and stories abound about the difficulties that political “players” of both parties have encountered when unduly attempting to pressure her. I cannot tell you why she is impervious to partisan influence. It may be an inner strength. It may be a commitment to principle. I do know, however, that she does her level best to serve all of us without partisan agenda or selfish concern.

We have had the good fortune during the last eight years of having Janet Reno in charge of the Department of Justice. This extraordinary person has led us through some difficult times. Many of us have disagreed with some of her decisions, but no one who is objective can believe her decisions came from other than her honest and heartfelt attempt to do the right thing. Walter Lippmann, a noted political commentator from the first half of the twentieth century, observed that “the springs of greatness in a public man lie finally in the conviction that he must serve the truth and not opinion, that he must do what is right whether or not he is sure to succeed. . . . This is the way of greatness.” Janet Reno lives this test and, in this and other respects, she is the kind of public official we should strive to emulate.