attorney general

1. The chief law officer and legal counsel of the government of a state or nation.
2. Attorney General The head of the U.S. Department of Justice and a member of the President's cabinet.

For more information on attorney general, visit Britannica.com.

The chief law officer of the crown who acts as the crown's representative in legal proceedings. The title attorney-general of England was first used in 1461. During the 17th cent. the attorney-general was often accused of subservience to the monarch and of being over-zealous in prosecuting in state trials, as in the notorious prosecution of Sir Walter Ralegh by Coke in 1603. The modern attorney-general is a hybrid member of the government in that he is the government's legal adviser and representative, but also has historic functions relating to the administration of the law. In these cases he is required to be non-political.

The attorney general is head of the U.S. Department of Justice and chief law officer of the federal government. He or she represents the United States in legal matters generally, and gives advice and opinions to the president and to other heads of executive departments as requested. In cases of exceptional gravity or special importance, the attorney general may appear in person before the U.S. Supreme Court to represent the interests of the government.

As head of the Department of Justice, the attorney general is charged with enforcing federal laws, furnishing legal counsel in federal cases, construing the laws under which other executive departments act, supervising federal penal institutions, and investigating violations of federal laws. The attorney general also supervises and directs the activities of the U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals in the various judicial districts. (U.S. attorneys prosecute all offenses against the United States, and prosecute or defend, for the government, all civil actions, suits, or proceedings in which the United States is concerned; U.S. marshals execute all lawful writs, processes, and orders issued under authority of the United States.)

The office of the attorney general was created by the First Congress in the Judiciary Act of 1789 (An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States, ch. 20, § 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93). The First Congress did not expect the attorney general — a part-time employee with scant pay, no staff, and little power — to play a major role in the emerging federal government. As the members of the First Congress established a system for the enforcement of federal laws, their primary concern was to protect state and individual freedoms and to avoid the creation of a central legal system that would allow the tyrannies they had experienced as American colonists under George III. Therefore, the Judiciary Act gave the attorney general just two principal duties: (1) to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court of the United States that concerned the United States and (2) to give an opinion on questions of law when asked to do so by the president or heads of other executive departments.

The early attorneys general spent little time arguing before the Supreme Court, because few cases had traveled through the nation's developing court system and even fewer warranted Supreme Court review. Together, the first three attorneys general — Edmund Randolph, Wil- liam Bradford, and Charles Lee — represented the United States in the Supreme Court only six times in their collective years in office.

Furthermore, early attorneys general were specifically restricted by the Judiciary Act from participating in lower-court actions. District attorneys (known today as U.S. attorneys) held the authority to represent the United States in district and circuit courts. Each district attorney could independently decide which cases to pursue and on what grounds — a situation that soon resulted in a number of contradictory legal positions for the federal government. Because the attorney general had no power to direct district attorneys in their lower-court litigation, the officeholder was often unaware of litigation that concerned the interests of the United States.

In a letter to President George Washington dated December 26, 1791, Attorney General Randolph expressed concern about the limitations of his office and complained specifically about the lack of a defined relationship with the district attorneys. Randolph was the first of many attorneys general to point out that their prescribed duties did not allow them to fully look after the interests of the United States, and he was the first to propose an expansion of the office's duties and jurisdiction.

Ignoring complaints and proposals, Congress remained reluctant to expand the duties of the attorney general and often passed legislation that assigned special legal functions to officials in other government departments. For example, in the early 1800s, Congress created a solicitor of the treasury to handle all suits for the recovery of money or property in the United States — a move that further complicated the attorney general's efforts to fully look after the interests of the government.

With court appearances limited by the lack of both cases before the Supreme Court and jurisdiction to oversee lower-court cases, opinion writing consumed most of the time of early attorneys general. Together, Attorneys General Randolph, Bradford, and Lee wrote more than forty formal opinions on such diverse issues as immunity for diplomats, applications for patents, and the choice of directors for the nation's first federal bank. However, early attorneys general were not required to provide the government with written records of their opinions. When William Wirt, the eleventh attorney general, took office in 1817, he found that his predecessors had provided no record of their past opinions to guide his deliberations. Understandably, early attorneys general, who received only a small stipend for their services and relied on the private practice of law for their personal income, spent little money to hire clerks to transcribe and preserve their work. They simply relied on the recipients of their opinions to retain them for future reference. Still, legislative attempts to provide the attorney general with an office, a clerk, and supplies continually failed to win support.

The limited duties outlined for the attorney general by the First Congress, along with the lack of perquisites for the office, made it hard for presidents to attract qualified appointees and keep them in office. Even President Washington had difficulty convincing his personal attorney and long-time friend, Randolph, to take the job. Washington finally won Randolph over by pointing out that service as attorney general might enhance his earning opportunities in private practice. In fact, Randolph did not profit much from the prestige of the office during or after his tenure. Subsequent attorneys general did profit handsomely from the experience, but early officeholders often had difficulty balancing the dual commitments to private practice and public service.

The commitment to public service for early attorneys general was further complicated by institutional tensions between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, which all claimed the officeholder's time, services, and allegiance. It has been said that the attorney general serves "three masters": the president, the Congress, and the courts (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 1968). Although the attorney general advises the president, the basic authority of the office is derived from Congress and the functions of the office are subject to congressional control. In addition, the attorney general is a member of the bar and therefore an officer of the court subject to the directives of the judicial branch.

Although the First Congress defined the relationship between the attorney general and the president, it did not define the relationship between the attorney general and Congress. And it was notably silent regarding who was ultimately to decide when and whether the interests of the United States were "concerned": nothing in the Judiciary Act of 1789 specified who should control the attorney general or to whom she or he should report. Early attorneys general took orders from the Congress as well as from the president and the heads of other executive departments. Attorneys general were often asked to deliver opinions to Congress on legislative proposals, and they came to be viewed as authorities on constitutional issues — much to the chagrin of both legislators, who frequently disagreed with their interpretations, and members of the judiciary, who assumed that they themselves were the final arbiters in constitutional matters.

The attorney general has also been said to straddle the legal and political worlds. When Congress created the executive departments, it did not specify who should or should not be members of the president's cabinet — and it could not predict the level of influence held by any one individual. In the early years, the attorney general did not have cabinet rank but served as counsel to those who did. However, as Washington's personal legal adviser, Randolph participated in cabinet meetings as early as 1792, establishing the precedent for attorneys general to have a hand in making policy as well as in interpreting and enforcing the laws. The attorney general's role in policy making soon brought into question the extent to which party lines and presidential preferences influenced his or her legal advice. Over time, some attorneys general have handled the dichotomy with more integrity, and less partisanship, than others.

The lack of centralized authority and the lack of basic institutional support for the office of the attorney general began to be remedied by Congress in the early nineteenth century. Subsequently, many of the issues caused or influenced by conflicting allegiances were dissolved or clarified through administrative policy and legislation.

In 1814, during Attorney General Richard Rush's term, President James Madison made the first move to expand formally the presence (if not the duties) of the attorney general, by proposing a requirement that the attorney general reside in or near Washington, D.C., while Congress was in session. The residency requirement had previously been resisted by some attorneys general. Although it made the officeholder available to the president and Congress when the attorney general was most needed, it also made the private practice of law more inconvenient to an attorney general who lived far from the Capitol.

Attorney General Wirt (1817-29), under Presidents James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, was the first to comprehend fully the officeholder's need for administrative structure. During his tenure, the attorney general was finally given government office space, a transcribing clerk, and a small fund for office supplies. The practice of providing opinions to Congress was also curtailed during this period, when Wirt presented a paper to President Monroe outlining the extent of his congressional workload and his objections. Wirt told the president that opinions had been provided to Congress in the past as a courtesy — not as a matter of law. Wirt told the president the practice would not continue unless Congress revised the law and made it mandatory.

By 1853, when Caleb Cushing became attorney general under President Franklin Pierce, the officeholder had four clerks and — for the first time — a salary comparable to those of other cabinet officers. Also in 1853, Cushing decided it was no longer appropriate to continue the private practice of law while in office. He was the nation's first full-time attorney general.

Recommendations that a department of law be created by Congress were discussed as early as 1830 and were championed by numerous presidents and attorneys general. A department of justice was first suggested in 1851 by Alex H. H. Stuart, secretary of the newly established Department of the Interior.

No action was taken by Congress until February 25, 1870, when the Joint Committee on Retrenchments (appointed to find ways of reducing government expenditures) drafted a bill to consolidate legal functions and create a department of justice. The bill was made into law four months later, and the Department of Justice officially came into existence on July 1, 1870 (An Act to Establish the Department of Justice, §17, 16 Stat. 162 [June 22, 1870]).

The June 22, 1870, law created a new position, that of solicitor general, whose holder is in charge of representing the government in suits and appeals in the Supreme Court and in lower federal trial and appellate courts, in cases involving the interests of the United States. The law also provided for two assistant attorneys general. It gave the attorney general complete direction and control of the U.S. attorneys and all other counsel employed on behalf of the United States. And it finally gave the attorney general supervisory powers over the accounts of district attorneys, marshals, clerks, and other officers of the court involved in federal matters.

The first attorney general to head the new department was Amos T. Akerman, of Georgia, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. So, eighty-one years after the creation of the office of the attorney general, the nation finally had a full-fledged organization to administer and enforce its laws. According to one author, the creation of the Department of Justice was "the culmination of the evolutionary process through which the Attorney Generalship developed its essential nature" (Baker 1985).

The growth of the office of the attorney general from a part-time, one-person operation into a vast and complex law enforcement organization is an inseparable part of the story of the United States and the development of its institutions. As the role of government has expanded, so too has the role of the nation's attorney general. And, though the attorney general's role continues to grow and evolve, the basic duties of the office and the structure of its supporting organization have been in place since the Civil War.

The men and women who have served as attorney general have played an integral part in U.S. history. Every attorney general from Randolph's time to the present has participated in great events and crises of her or his day. Many have served in other capacities following their term in office. Former attorneys general can be found on the U.S. Supreme Court, in cabinet-level positions, and at diplomatic posts around the world. Attorneys general have also gone on to serve in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and as governors of various states.

The head of the United States Department of Justice and a member of the president's cabinet. The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government.

United States Attorney General
Official Seal Department of Justice
Incumbent: Eric Holder since: February 3, 2009
First	Edmund Randolph
Formation	September 26, 1789
Presidential 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 defunct 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.

Contents 1 List of Attorneys General 2 Living Former Attorneys General 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

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	November 26, 1991	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
• William B. Saxbe
• Benjamin Civiletti
• Edwin Meese
• Dick Thornburgh
• William Barr
• Janet Reno
• John Ashcroft
• Alberto Gonzales
• Michael Mukasey

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
• Living former cabinet members

References

1. ^ Judiciary Act of 1789, section 35.
2. ^ Staff (n.d.). "USDOJ: Office of the Attorney General". US Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/. Retrieved 2009-02-03. "Eric H. Holder Jr. was sworn in as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States on February 3, 2009 by Vice-President Joe Biden. President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Mr. Holder on December 1, 2008." 
3. ^ Margasak, Larry (February 2, 2009). "Senate confirms Holder as first black AG". Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/holder_confirmation. Retrieved February 2, 2009. 

External links

• The Attorneys General of the United States

United States presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Defense	7th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of the Interior

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 • Holder

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

v • d • e Leaders of the United States federal executive departments Agriculture • Commerce • Defense • Education • Energy • Health and Human Services • Homeland Security • Housing and Urban Development • Interior • Justice • Labor • State • Transportation • Treasury • Veterans Affairs Past department leaders: Commerce and Labor • Health, Education, and Welfare • Navy • Post Office • War

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - den amerikanske justitsminister

Français (French)
n. - (GB) procureur général, (US) garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice

Deutsch (German)
n. - Justizminister, Generalstaatsanwalt

Español (Spanish)
n. - Fiscal del Tribunal Supremo

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (연방 정부의)법무 장관

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פרקליט המדינה בבריטניה, ארה"ב ועוד, תובע כללי‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.