United States Attorney General

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Attorney General of the United States
Official seal
Incumbent:	Michael Mukasey
First:	Edmund Randolph
Formation:	September 26, 1789
Presidential Line of Succession:	Seventh

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice (see 28 U.S.C. § 503) concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the US government. The Attorney General serves as a member of the President's Cabinet, but is the only cabinet department head who is not given the title Secretary.

The Attorney General is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. He or she serves at the pleasure of the President and can be removed by the President at any time; the Attorney General is also subject to impeachment by the House of Representatives and trial in the Senate for "treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors."

On November 9, 2007, Michael B. Mukasey was confirmed to serve as the 81st Attorney General of the United States.

The office of Attorney General was established by Congress in 1789. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law when required by the President of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments."^[1] Only in 1870 was the Department of Justice established to support the Attorney General in the discharge of his responsibilities.

The members of the Department of Justice represent the United States in legal matters generally and offer advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. The Attorney General appears in person to represent the Government before the Supreme Court in cases of exceptional importance. Under most circumstances the United States Solicitor General argues before the Supreme Court on the government's behalf. The Attorney General is seventh in the United States presidential line of succession.

[edit] List of Attorneys General

#	Picture	Name	State of Residence	Term of Office		President(s) served under
1		Edmund Jenings Randolph	Virginia	September 26, 1789	January 26, 1794	George Washington
2		William Bradford	Pennsylvania	January 27, 1794	August 23, 1795	George Washington
3		Charles Lee	Virginia	December 10, 1795	February 19, 1801	George Washington, John Adams
4		Levi Lincoln, Sr.	Massachusetts	March 5, 1801	March 2, 1805	Thomas Jefferson
5		John Breckinridge	Kentucky	August 7, 1805	December 14, 1806	Thomas Jefferson
6		Caesar Augustus Rodney	Delaware	January 20, 1807	December 10, 1811	Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
7		William Pinkney	Maryland	December 11, 1811	February 9, 1814	James Madison
8		Richard Rush	Pennsylvania	February 10, 1814	November 12, 1817	James Madison
9		William Wirt	Virginia	November 13, 1817	March 4, 1829	James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
10		John Macpherson Berrien	Georgia	March 9, 1829	July 19, 1831	Andrew Jackson
11		Roger Brooke Taney	Maryland	July 20, 1831	November 14, 1833	Andrew Jackson
12		Benjamin Franklin Butler	New York	November 15, 1833	July 4, 1838	Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
13		Felix Grundy	Tennessee	July 5, 1838	January 10, 1840	Martin Van Buren
14		Henry Dilworth Gilpin	Pennsylvania	January 11, 1840	March 4, 1841	Martin Van Buren
15		John Jordan Crittenden	Kentucky	March 5, 1841	September 12, 1841	William Harrison, John Tyler
16		Hugh Swinton Legaré	South Carolina	September 13, 1841	June 30, 1843	John Tyler
17		John Nelson	Maryland	July 1, 1843	March 4, 1845	John Tyler
18		John Young Mason	Virginia	March 5, 1845	October 16, 1846	James Polk
19		Nathan Clifford	Maine	October 17, 1846	March 17, 1848	James Polk
20		Isaac Toucey	Connecticut	June 21, 1848	March 4, 1849	James Polk
21		Reverdy Johnson	Maryland	March 8, 1849	July 21, 1850	Zachary Taylor
22		John Jordan Crittenden	Kentucky	July 22, 1850	March 4, 1853	Millard Fillmore
23		Caleb Cushing	Massachusetts	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857	Franklin Pierce
24		Jeremiah Sullivan Black	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1857	December 16, 1860	James Buchanan
25		Edwin McMasters Stanton	Ohio	December 20, 1860	March 4, 1861	James Buchanan
26		Edward Bates	Missouri	March 5, 1861	November 24, 1864	Abraham Lincoln
27		James Speed	Kentucky	December 2, 1864	July 22, 1866	Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
28		Henry Stanberry	Ohio	July 23, 1866	July 16, 1868	Andrew Johnson
29		William Maxwell Evarts	New York	July 17, 1868	March 4, 1869	Andrew Johnson
30		Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar	Massachusetts	March 5, 1869	November 22, 1870	Ulysses Grant
31		Amos Tappan Akerman	Georgia	November 23, 1870	December 13, 1871	Ulysses Grant
32		George Henry Williams	Oregon	December 14, 1871	April 25, 1875	Ulysses Grant
33		Edwards Pierrepont	New York	April 26, 1875	May 21, 1876	Ulysses Grant
34		Alphonso Taft	Ohio	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877	Ulysses Grant
35		Charles Devens	Massachusetts	March 12, 1877	March 4, 1881	Rutherford Hayes
36		Wayne MacVeagh	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1881	December 15, 1881	James Garfield
37		Benjamin Harris Brewster	Pennsylvania	December 16, 1881	March 4, 1885	Chester Arthur
38		Augustus Hill Garland	Arkansas	March 6, 1885	March 4, 1889	Grover Cleveland
39		William Henry Harrison Miller	Indiana	March 7, 1889	March 4, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
40		Richard Olney	Massachusetts	March 6, 1893	April 7, 1895	Grover Cleveland
41		Judson Harmon	Ohio	April 8, 1895	March 4, 1897	Grover Cleveland
42		Joseph McKenna	California	March 5, 1897	January 25, 1898	William McKinley
43		John William Griggs	New Jersey	January 25, 1898	March 29, 1901	William McKinley
44		Philander Chase Knox	Pennsylvania	April 5, 1901	June 30, 1904	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
45		William Henry Moody	Massachusetts	July 1, 1904	December 17, 1906	Theodore Roosevelt
46		Charles Joseph Bonaparte	Maryland	December 17, 1906	March 4, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
47		George Woodward Wickersham	New York	March 4, 1909	March 4, 1913	William Taft
48		James Clark McReynolds	New York	March 5, 1913	August 29, 1914	Woodrow Wilson
49		Thomas Watt Gregory	Texas	August 29, 1914	March 4, 1919	Woodrow Wilson
50		Alexander Mitchell Palmer	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1919	March 4, 1921	Woodrow Wilson
51		Harry Micajah Daugherty	Ohio	March 4, 1921	April 6, 1924	Warren Harding
52		Harlan Fiske Stone	New York	April 7, 1924	March 1, 1925	Calvin Coolidge
53		John Garibaldi Sargent	Vermont	March 7, 1925	March 4, 1929	Calvin Coolidge
54		William DeWitt Mitchell	Minnesota	March 4, 1929	March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
55		Homer Stille Cummings	Connecticut	March 4, 1933	January 1, 1939	Franklin Roosevelt
56		William Francis Murphy	Michigan	January 2, 1939	January 18, 1940	Franklin Roosevelt
57		Robert Houghwout Jackson	New York	January 18, 1940	August 25, 1941	Franklin Roosevelt
58		Francis Beverley Biddle	Pennsylvania	August 26, 1941	June 26, 1945	Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman
59		Tom Campbell Clark	Texas	June 27, 1945	July 26, 1949	Harry Truman
60		James Howard McGrath	Rhode Island	July 27, 1949	April 3, 1952	Harry Truman
61		James Patrick McGranery	Pennsylvania	April 4, 1952	January 20, 1953	Harry Truman
62		Herbert Brownell, Jr.	New York	January 21, 1953	October 23, 1957	Dwight Eisenhower
63		William Pierce Rogers	New York	October 23, 1957	January 20, 1961	Dwight Eisenhower
64		Robert Francis Kennedy	Massachusetts	January 20, 1961	September 3, 1964	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson
65		Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach	Illinois	January 28, 1965	September 30, 1966	Lyndon Johnson
66		William Ramsey Clark	Texas	March 10, 1967	January 20, 1969	Lyndon Johnson
67		John Newton Mitchell	New York	January 20, 1969	February 15, 1972	Richard Nixon
68		Richard Gordon Kleindienst	Arizona	February 15, 1972	May 25, 1973	Richard Nixon
69		Elliot Lee Richardson	Massachusetts	May 25, 1973	October 20, 1973	Richard Nixon
70		William Bart Saxbe	Ohio	December 17, 1973	January 14, 1975	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
71		Edward Hirsch Levi	Illinois	January 14, 1975	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
72		Griffin Boyette Bell	Georgia	January 26, 1977	August 16, 1979	Jimmy Carter
73		Benjamin Richard Civiletti	Maryland	August 16, 1979	January 19, 1981	Jimmy Carter
74		William French Smith	California	January 23, 1981	February 25, 1985	Ronald Reagan
75		Edwin Meese III	California	February 25, 1985	August 12, 1988	Ronald Reagan
76		Richard Lewis Thornburgh	Pennsylvania	August 12, 1988	August 15, 1991	Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush
77		William Pelham Barr	New York	November 26, 1991	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
78		Janet Reno	Florida	March 12, 1993	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
79		John David Ashcroft	Missouri	February 2, 2001	February 3, 2005	George W. Bush
80		Alberto R. Gonzales	Texas	February 3, 2005	September 17, 2007	George W. Bush
81		Michael Bernard Mukasey	New York	November 9, 2007		George W. Bush

[edit] See also

• United States Deputy Attorney General
• United States Solicitor General
• United States Associate Attorney General
• United States Assistant Attorney General
• subpoena duces tecum
• subpoena ad testificandum

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Biographies of the Attorneys General, via U.S. Dept. of Justice

v • d • e United States Attorneys General Randolph • Bradford • Lee • Lincoln • Breckinridge • Rodney • Pinkney • Rush • Wirt • Berrien • Taney • Butler • Grundy • Gilpin • Crittenden • Legaré • Nelson • Mason • Clifford • Toucey • Johnson • Crittenden • Cushing • Black • Stanton • Bates • Speed • Stanberry • Evarts • Hoar • Akerman • Williams • Pierrepont • Taft • Devens • MacVeagh • Brewster • Garland • Miller • Olney • Harmon • McKenna • Griggs • Knox • Moody • Bonaparte • Wickersham • McReynolds • Gregory • Palmer • Daugherty • Stone • Sargent • W D Mitchell • Cummings • Murphy • Jackson • Biddle • T C Clark • McGrath • McGranery • Brownell • Rogers • Kennedy • Katzenbach • W R Clark • J N Mitchell • Kleindienst • Richardson • Saxbe • Levi • Bell • Civiletti • Smith • Meese • Thornburgh • Barr • Reno • Ashcroft • Gonzales • Mukasey

v • d • e Agencies under the United States Department of Justice Headquarters: Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building Attorney General Deputy Attorney General Justice Management Division · Criminal Division · National Security Division · Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives · Drug Enforcement Administration · Federal Bureau of Investigation · Federal Bureau of Prisons · National Institute of Corrections · United States Marshals Service · Executive Office for Immigration Review · Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management · Office of the Federal Detention Trustee · Office of Intelligence Policy and Review · Office of the Pardon Attorney · Office of Professional Responsibility · Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children · Office of Tribal Justice · Professional Responsibility Advisory Office · United States Attorneys  · United States Trustee Program · INTERPOL, U.S. National Central Bureau · National Drug Intelligence Center · United States Parole Commission · Office of Legal Counsel Associate Attorney General Office of Justice Programs · Office of Dispute Resolution · Office on Violence Against Women · Community Oriented Policing Services · Office of Information and Privacy · Foreign Claims Settlement Commission · Antitrust Division · Civil Division · Civil Rights Division · Environment and Natural Resources Division · Tax Division · Community Relations Service · Office of Legal Policy Solicitor General