United States Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General during the absence of the Attorney General. The Deputy Attorney General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The position was created in 1950.[1]
Since December 2010 the office is held by James M. Cole, who received a recess appointment by President Obama and subsequently was confirmed by the Senate in June 2011.[2]
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On May 14, 2007 Paul McNulty, then Deputy Attorney General, announced his resignation in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.[3] At the time, McNulty was considered "the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys." [4] Later, Gonzales himself would resign.
On July 18, 2007 President Bush announced his appointment of Craig S. Morford as acting Deputy Attorney General. Morford had been serving as the U.S. attorney in Nashville, Tennessee, and was known for his successful prosecution of former Ohio Representative James Traficant on bribery charges[5].
| Name | Years in Office | Appointed By |
|---|---|---|
| A. Devitt Vanech | 1951 – 1952 | Eisenhower |
| Ross L. Malone | 1952 – 1953 | Eisenhower |
| William P. Rogers | 1953 – 1957 | Eisenhower |
| Lawrence E. Walsh | 1957 – 1960 | Kennedy |
| Byron White | 1961 – 1962 | Kennedy |
| Nicholas Katzenbach | 1962 – 1965 | Kennedy |
| Ramsey Clark | 1965 – 1967 | Johnson |
| Warren Christopher | 1967 – 1969 | Johnson |
| Richard G. Kleindienst | 1969 – 1972 | Nixon |
| Ralph E. Erickson | 1972 – 1973 | Nixon |
| Joseph Sneed | 1973 | Nixon |
| William Ruckelshaus | 1973 | Nixon |
| Laurence Silberman | 1974 – 1975 | Ford |
| Harold R. Tyler, Jr. | 1975 – 1977 | Ford |
| Peter F. Flaherty | 1977 – 1978 | Carter |
| Benjamin R. Civiletti | 1978 – 1979 | Carter |
| Charles B. Renfrew | 1980 – 1981 | Carter |
| Edward C. Schmults | 1981 – 1984 | Reagan |
| Carol E. Dinkins | 1984 – 1985 | Reagan |
| D. Lowell Jensen | 1985 – 1986 | Reagan |
| Arnold I. Burns | 1986 – 1988 | Reagan |
| Harold G. Christensen | 1988 – 1989 | Reagan |
| Donald B. Ayer | 1989 – 1990 | George H.W. Bush |
| William P. Barr | 1990 – 1991 | George H.W. Bush |
| George J. Terwilliger III | 1992 – 1993 | George H.W. Bush |
| Philip B. Heymann | 1993 – 1994 | Clinton |
| Jamie Gorelick | 1994 – 1997 | Clinton |
| Eric Holder | 1997 – 2001 | Clinton |
| Larry Thompson | 2001 – 2003 | George W. Bush |
| James Comey | 2003 – 2005 | George W. Bush |
| Paul McNulty | 2005 – 2007 | George W. Bush |
| Craig Morford (acting) | 2007 – 2008 | George W. Bush |
| Mark Filip | 2008 – 2009 | George W. Bush |
| David W. Ogden | 2009 – 2010 | Obama |
| Gary Grindler (acting) | 2010 | Obama |
| James M. Cole | 2010 – present | Obama |