United States Attorney General

United States Attorney General
Official Seal Department of Justice
Incumbent Eric Holder since February 3, 2009
Formation	September 26, 1789
Succession	Seventh
Website	www.usdoj.gov

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 U.S. 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, besides the now independent Postmaster General.

The Attorney General is nominated by the President of the United States and takes office after confirmation 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."

The office of Attorney General was established by Congress by the Judiciary Act of 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.

As of February 3, 2009, the current Attorney General is Eric Holder.^[2] He was confirmed on February 2.^[3] Holder is the 82^nd Attorney General of the United States and the first African-American to hold the position.

List of Attorneys General

     Denotes service as acting Attorneys General prior to appointment or after resignation

#	Picture	Name	State of Residence	Term of Office		President(s) served under
1		Edmund Randolph	Virginia	September 26, 1789	January 26, 1794	George Washington
2		William Bradford	Pennsylvania	January 27, 1794	August 23, 1795
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
6		Caesar A. 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
9		William Wirt	Virginia	November 13, 1817	March 4, 1829	James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
10		John M. Berrien	Georgia	March 9, 1829	July 19, 1831	Andrew Jackson
11		Roger B. Taney	Maryland	July 20, 1831	November 14, 1833
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 D. Gilpin	Pennsylvania	January 11, 1840	March 4, 1841
15		John J. 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
18		John Y. Mason	Virginia	March 5, 1845	October 16, 1846	James Polk
19		Nathan Clifford	Maine	October 17, 1846	March 17, 1848
20		Isaac Toucey	Connecticut	June 21, 1848	March 4, 1849
21		Reverdy Johnson	Maryland	March 8, 1849	July 21, 1850	Zachary Taylor
22		John J. Crittenden	Kentucky	July 22, 1850	March 4, 1853	Millard Fillmore
23		Caleb Cushing	Massachusetts	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857	Franklin Pierce
24		Jeremiah S. Black	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1857	December 16, 1860	James Buchanan
25		Edwin M. Stanton	Ohio	December 20, 1860	March 4, 1861
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 M. Evarts	New York	July 17, 1868	March 4, 1869
30		Ebenezer R. Hoar	Massachusetts	March 5, 1869	November 22, 1870	Ulysses Grant
31		Amos T. Akerman	Georgia	November 23, 1870	December 13, 1871
32		George Henry Williams	Oregon	December 14, 1871	April 25, 1875
33		Edwards Pierrepont	New York	April 26, 1875	May 21, 1876
34		Alphonso Taft	Ohio	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877
35		Charles Devens	Massachusetts	March 12, 1877	March 4, 1881	Rutherford Hayes
36		Wayne MacVeagh	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1881	December 15, 1881	James Garfield, Chester Arthur
37		Benjamin H. Brewster	Pennsylvania	December 16, 1881	March 4, 1885	Chester Arthur
38		Augustus H. Garland	Arkansas	March 6, 1885	March 4, 1889	Grover Cleveland
39		William 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
42		Joseph McKenna	California	March 5, 1897	January 25, 1898	William McKinley
43		John W. Griggs	New Jersey	January 25, 1898	March 29, 1901
44		Philander C. Knox	Pennsylvania	April 5, 1901	June 30, 1904	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
45		William H. Moody	Massachusetts	July 1, 1904	December 17, 1906	Theodore Roosevelt
46		Charles J. Bonaparte	Maryland	December 17, 1906	March 4, 1909
47		George W. Wickersham	New York	March 4, 1909	March 4, 1913	William Taft
48		James C. McReynolds	New York	March 5, 1913	August 29, 1914	Woodrow Wilson
49		Thomas Watt Gregory	Texas	August 29, 1914	March 4, 1919
50		Alexander Mitchell Palmer	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1919	March 4, 1921
51		Harry M. Daugherty	Ohio	March 4, 1921	April 6, 1924	Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge
52		Harlan F. Stone	New York	April 7, 1924	March 1, 1925	Calvin Coolidge
53		John G. Sargent	Vermont	March 7, 1925	March 4, 1929
54		William D. Mitchell	Minnesota	March 4, 1929	March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
55		Homer Stille Cummings	Connecticut	March 4, 1933	January 1, 1939	Franklin Roosevelt
56		Frank Murphy	Michigan	January 2, 1939	January 18, 1940
57		Robert H. Jackson	New York	January 18, 1940	August 25, 1941
58		Francis Biddle	Pennsylvania	August 26, 1941	June 26, 1945	Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman
59		Tom C. Clark	Texas	June 27, 1945	July 26, 1949	Harry Truman
60		J. Howard McGrath	Rhode Island	July 27, 1949	April 3, 1952
61		James P. McGranery	Pennsylvania	April 4, 1952	January 20, 1953
62		Herbert Brownell, Jr.	New York	January 21, 1953	October 23, 1957	Dwight Eisenhower
63		William P. Rogers	New York	October 23, 1957	January 20, 1961
64		Robert F. Kennedy	Massachusetts, New York	January 20, 1961	September 3, 1964	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
65		Nicholas Katzenbach	Illinois	September 4, 1964 (as acting AG)	January 28, 1965 (as acting AG)	Lyndon Johnson
				January 28, 1965	November 28, 1966
66		Ramsey Clark	Texas	November 28, 1966 (as acting AG)	March 10, 1967 (as acting AG)
				March 10, 1967	January 20, 1969
67		John N. Mitchell	New York	January 20, 1969	February 15, 1972	Richard Nixon
68		Richard Kleindienst	Arizona	February 15, 1972	May 25, 1973
69		Elliot Richardson	Massachusetts	May 25, 1973	October 20, 1973
70		William B. Saxbe	Ohio	December 17, 1973	January 14, 1975	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
71		Edward H. Levi	Illinois	January 14, 1975	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
72		Griffin Bell	Georgia	January 26, 1977	August 16, 1979	Jimmy Carter
73		Benjamin Civiletti	Maryland	August 16, 1979	January 19, 1981
74		William French Smith	California	January 23, 1981	February 25, 1985	Ronald Reagan
75		Edwin Meese	California	February 25, 1985	August 12, 1988
76		Dick Thornburgh	Pennsylvania	August 12, 1988	August 15, 1991	Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush
77		William Barr	New York	August 16, 1991	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
78		Janet Reno	Florida	March 12, 1993	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
79		John Ashcroft	Missouri	February 2, 2001	February 3, 2005	George W. Bush
80		Alberto Gonzales	Texas	February 3, 2005	September 17, 2007
81		Michael Mukasey	New York	November 9, 2007	January 20, 2009
82		Eric Holder	Washington, D.C.	February 3, 2009	present	Barack Obama

Living Former Attorneys General

• Nicholas Katzenbach
• Ramsey Clark
• Benjamin Civiletti
• Edwin Meese
• Dick Thornburgh
• William Barr
• Janet Reno
• John Ashcroft
• Alberto Gonzales
• Michael Mukasey

See also

• Subpoena duces tecum
• Subpoena ad testificandum
• United States Solicitor General
• United States Deputy Attorney General
• United States Associate Attorney General
• United States Assistant Attorney General
• Living former members of the United States Cabinet

References

External links

• The Attorneys General of the United States

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 • Stanbery • 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 • Holder

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 Privacy and Civil Liberties · 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 Policy · 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 Assistant Attorney General Antitrust Division · Civil Division  · Civil Rights Division  · Criminal Division  · National Security Division  · Environmental and Natural Resources Division  · Justice Management Division  · Tax Division  · Office of Legal Counsel · Office of Legal Policy  · Office of Legislative Affairs Solicitor General