The first woman to serve as Attorney-General in the United States has died.

Janet Reno was appointed to the post in 1993 serving under President Bill Clinton.

Reno was born in Miami, Florida and attended Harvard Law School.

She graduated in 1963 and returned to her native Florida, where she went into private practice.

From there she served as county prosecutor for Dade County in the late 1970s.

Reno developed a reputation as tough, outspoken, unpretentious and liberal.

As US Attorney-General, she approved the siege against the Branch Davidians compound near Waco, Texas in 1993.

Several people, including leader David Koresh, died during the event.

While in the spring of 2000, she authorised the armed seizure of 5-year-old Cuban-American Elian Gonzalez.

He was taken from the home of his relatives in Florida so he could be returned to Cuba with his father.

Reno, who was 78, died early Monday from complications of Parkinson's disease.