United States Attorney General: Head of the United States Department of Justice
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice 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 is a member of the President's Cabinet, but is the only cabinet department head who is not given the title Secretary.
| United States Attorney General | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Department of Justice | |
 Flag of the United States Attorney General | |
| United States Department of Justice | |
| Style | Mr. Attorney General |
| Member of | Cabinet |
| Reports to | President of the United States |
| Seat | Department of Justice Headquarters Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 28 U.S.C. § 503 |
| Formation | September 26, 1789 |
| First holder | Edmund Randolph |
| Succession | Seventh |
| Deputy | United States Deputy Attorney General |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, level I |
| Website | www |
List of attorneys general
- Parties
Federalist (4) Democratic-Republican (5) Democratic (33) Whig (4) Republican (40) Political Independent / Unknown (1)
- Status
| No. | Portrait | Name | Prior Experience | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Edmund Randolph | Lawyer, | Virginia | September 26, 1789 | September 12, 1813 | George Washington | |
| 2 |  | William Bradford | Lawyer, judge, Attorney General of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | January 27, 1794 | August 23, 1795 | ||
| 3 |  | Charles Lee | Lawyer, | Virginia | December 10, 1795 | June 24, 1815 | ||
| John Adams | ||||||||
| 4 |  | Levi Lincoln Sr. | Lawyer, Acting United States Secretary of State, 7th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district | Massachusetts | March 5, 1801 | April 14, 1820 | Thomas Jefferson | |
| 5 |  | John Breckinridge | Lawyer, United States Senator from Kentucky, Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Attorney General of Kentucky | Kentucky | August 7, 1805 | December 14, 1806 | ||
| 6 |  | Caesar Augustus Rodney | Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware's at-large district, Member of Delaware General Assembly | Delaware | January 20, 1807 | December 10, 1811 | ||
| James Madison | ||||||||
| 7 | .jpg) | William Pinkney | Lawyer, United States Minister to the United Kingdom, 3rd Attorney General of Maryland, Mayor of Annapolis, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd district | Maryland | December 11, 1811 | February 9, 1814 | ||
| 8 |  | Richard Rush | Lawyer, Attorney General of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | February 10, 1814 | November 12, 1817 | ||
| 9 |  | William Wirt | Lawyer, United States Attorney for the District of Virginia, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Richmond City 6th Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates | Virginia | November 13, 1817 | March 4, 1829 | James Monroe | |
| John Quincy Adams | ||||||||
| 10 |  | John Macpherson Berrien | Lawyer, Judge of the Eastern judicial circuit of Georgia, | Georgia | March 9, 1829 | July 19, 1831 | Andrew Jackson | |
| 11 |  | Roger B. Taney | Lawyer, Acting United States Secretary of War, Attorney General of Maryland | Maryland | July 20, 1831 | November 14, 1833 | ||
| 12 |  | Benjamin Franklin Butler | Lawyer, Member of the New York State Assembly from Albany County, District Attorney of Albany County | New York | November 15, 1833 | July 4, 1838 | ||
| Martin Van Buren | ||||||||
| 13 |  | Felix Grundy | Lawyer, United States Senator from Tennessee, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 3rd district and 5th district, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals | Tennessee | July 5, 1838 | January 10, 1840 | ||
| 14 | .jpg) | Henry D. Gilpin | Lawyer, Solicitor of the United States Treasury, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania | January 11, 1840 | March 4, 1841 | ||
| 15 |  | John J. Crittenden 1st Term | Lawyer, 22nd Secretary of State of Kentucky, | Kentucky | March 5, 1841 | September 12, 1841 | William Henry Harrison | |
| John Tyler | ||||||||
| 16 |  | Hugh S. Legaré | Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 1st district Acting United States Minister to Belgium, 7th Attorney General of South Carolina | South Carolina | September 13, 1841 | June 20, 1843 | ||
| 17 |  | John Nelson | Lawyer, United States Chargé d'Affaires to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 4th district | Maryland | July 1, 1843 | March 4, 1845 | ||
| 18 |  | John Y. Mason | Lawyer, 16th United States Secretary of the Navy Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 2nd district | Virginia | March 5, 1845 | October 16, 1846 | James K. Polk | |
| 19 |  | Nathan Clifford | Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st district, Attorney General of Maine, Member of the Maine House of Representatives, | Maine | October 17, 1846 | March 17, 1848 | ||
| 20 |  | Isaac Toucey | Lawyer, 33rd Governor of Connecticut, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's at-large district and 1st district | Connecticut | June 21, 1848 | March 4, 1849 | ||
| 21 |  | Reverdy Johnson | Lawyer, | Maryland | March 8, 1849 | July 21, 1850 | Zachary Taylor | |
| 22 | | John J. Crittenden 2nd Term | Lawyer, 15th United States Attorney General 22nd Secretary of State of Kentucky, | Kentucky | July 22, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | Millard Fillmore | |
| 23 |  | Caleb Cushing | Lawyer, United States Minister to China, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 3rd district | Massachusetts | March 7, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | Franklin Pierce | |
| 24 |  | Jeremiah S. Black | Lawyer, Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court | Pennsylvania | March 6, 1857 | December 16, 1860 | James Buchanan | |
| 25 |  | Edwin Stanton | Lawyer | Pennsylvania | December 20, 1860 | March 4, 1861 | ||
| 26 |  | Edward Bates | Lawyer, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's at-large district, Attorney General of Missouri | Missouri | March 5, 1861 | November 24, 1864 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| 27 |  | James Speed | Lawyer, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | Kentucky | December 2, 1864 | July 22, 1866 | ||
| Andrew Johnson | ||||||||
| 28 |  | Henry Stanbery | Lawyer, Attorney General of Ohio | Ohio | July 23, 1866 | July 16, 1868 | ||
| 29 |  | William M. Evarts | Lawyer | New York | July 17, 1868 | March 4, 1869 | ||
| 30 |  | Ebenezer R. Hoar | Lawyer, judge | Massachusetts | March 5, 1869 | November 22, 1870 | Ulysses S. Grant | |
| 31 |  | Amos T. Akerman | Lawyer, teacher | 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 B. Hayes | ||
| 36 |  | Wayne MacVeagh | Pennsylvania | March 5, 1881 | December 15, 1881 | James A. Garfield | ||
| Chester A. Arthur | ||||||||
| 37 |  | Benjamin H. Brewster | Pennsylvania | December 16, 1881 | March 4, 1885 | |||
| 38 |  | Augustus Garland | Arkansas | March 6, 1885 | March 4, 1889 | Grover Cleveland | ||
| 39 |  | William H. H. 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 | |||
| Theodore Roosevelt | ||||||||
| 45 |  | William Henry Moody | Massachusetts | July 1, 1904 | December 17, 1906 | |||
| 46 |  | Charles Bonaparte | Maryland | December 17, 1906 | March 4, 1909 | |||
| 47 |  | George W. Wickersham | New York | March 4, 1909 | March 4, 1913 | William Howard Taft | ||
| 48 |  | James C. McReynolds | Tennessee | March 5, 1913 | August 29, 1914 | Woodrow Wilson | ||
| 49 |  | Thomas Watt Gregory | Texas | August 29, 1914 | March 4, 1919 | |||
| 50 |  | A. Mitchell Palmer | Pennsylvania | March 5, 1919 | March 4, 1921 | |||
| 51 |  | Harry M. Daugherty | Ohio | March 4, 1921 | April 6, 1924 | Warren G. Harding | ||
| Calvin Coolidge | ||||||||
| 52 |  | Harlan F. Stone | New York | April 7, 1924 | March 1, 1925 | |||
| 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 D. 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 | |||
| Harry S. Truman | ||||||||
| 59 |  | Tom C. Clark | Texas | June 27, 1945 | July 26, 1949 | |||
| 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 D. Eisenhower | ||
| 63 |  | William P. Rogers | New York | October 23, 1957 | January 20, 1961 | |||
| 64 | .jpg) | Robert F. Kennedy | Massachusetts | January 20, 1961 | September 3, 1964 | John F. Kennedy | ||
| Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||||
| 65 |  | Nicholas Katzenbach | Illinois | September 4, 1964 | January 28, 1965 | |||
| January 28, 1965 | November 28, 1966 | |||||||
| 66 |  | Ramsey Clark | Texas | November 28, 1966 | March 10, 1967 | |||
| 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 | April 30, 1973 | |||
| 69 |  | Elliot Richardson | Massachusetts | April 30, 1973 | October 20, 1973 | |||
| – |  | Robert Bork Acting | Pennsylvania | October 20, 1973 | January 4, 1974 | |||
| 70 |  | William B. Saxbe | Ohio | January 4, 1974 | January 14, 1975 | |||
| Gerald Ford | ||||||||
| 71 |  | Edward H. Levi | Illinois | January 14, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | |||
| – |  | Dick Thornburgh Acting | Pennsylvania | January 20, 1977 | January 26, 1977 | Jimmy Carter | ||
| 72 |  | Griffin Bell | Georgia | January 26, 1977 | August 16, 1979 | |||
| 73 | .jpg) | Benjamin Civiletti | Maryland | August 16, 1979 | January 19, 1981 | |||
| 74 |  | William French Smith | California | January 23, 1981 | February 25, 1985 | Ronald Reagan | ||
| 75 | .jpg) | Edwin Meese | California | February 25, 1985 | August 12, 1988 | |||
| 76 | | Dick Thornburgh | Pennsylvania | August 12, 1988 | August 15, 1991 | |||
| George H. W. Bush | ||||||||
| 77 |  | William Barr 1st Term | United States Deputy Attorney General (1990-1991) United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989-1990) | Virginia | August 16, 1991 | November 26, 1991 | ||
| November 26, 1991 | January 20, 1993 | |||||||
| – | Stuart M. Gerson Acting | Washington, D.C. | January 20, 1993 | March 12, 1993 | Bill Clinton | |||
| 78 |  | Janet Reno | Florida | March 12, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | |||
| – |  | Eric Holder Acting | United States Deputy Attorney General (1997-2001) United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1993-1997) Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (1998-1993) | Washington, D.C. | January 20, 2001 | February 2, 2001 | George W. Bush | |
| 79 |  | John Ashcroft | Missouri | February 2, 2001 | February 3, 2005 | |||
| 80 |  | Alberto Gonzales | Texas | February 3, 2005 | September 17, 2007 | |||
| – |  | Paul Clement Acting | Washington, D.C. | September 17, 2007 | September 18, 2007 | |||
| – |  | Peter Keisler Acting | Washington, D.C. | September 18, 2007 | November 9, 2007 | |||
| 81 |  | Michael Mukasey | New York | November 9, 2007 | January 20, 2009 | |||
| – |  | Mark Filip Acting | Illinois | January 20, 2009 | February 3, 2009 | Barack Obama | ||
| 82 | .jpg) | Eric Holder | Acting United States Attorney General (2001) United States Deputy Attorney General (1997-2001) United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1993-1997) Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (1998-1993) | Washington, D.C. | February 3, 2009 | April 27, 2015 | ||
| 83 | .jpg) | Loretta Lynch | United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (1999-2001, 2010-2015) Member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003-2005) | New York | April 27, 2015 | January 20, 2017 | ||
| – | .jpg) | Sally Yates Acting | Georgia | January 20, 2017 | January 30, 2017 | Donald Trump | ||
| – | .jpg) | Dana Boente Acting | Virginia | January 30, 2017 | February 9, 2017 | |||
| 84 | .jpg) | Jeff Sessions | United States Senator from Alabama (1997-2017) Attorney General of Alabama (1995-1997) United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama (1981-1993) | Alabama | February 9, 2017 | November 7, 2018 | ||
| – | .jpg) | Matthew Whitaker Acting | Iowa | November 7, 2018 | February 14, 2019 | |||
| 85 | .jpg) | William Barr 2nd Term | 77th United States Attorney General (1991-1993) United States Deputy Attorney General (1990-1991) United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989-1990) | Virginia | February 14, 2019 | December 23, 2020 | ||
| – | .jpg) | Jeffrey A. Rosen Acting | Massachusetts | December 24, 2020 | January 20, 2021 | |||
| – |  | John Demers Acting | Massachusetts | January 20, 2021 | Joe Biden | |||
| – |  | Monty Wilkinson Acting | Washington, D.C. | January 20, 2021 | March 11, 2021 | |||
| 86 |  | Merrick Garland | Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2013-2020) Nominee for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (2016) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1997-2013) | Washington, D.C. | March 11, 2021 | — | ||
Notes
References
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