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Attorney General of the United States
Seal of the Department of Justice
Flag of the Attorney General
Incumbent Matthew Whitaker Acting since November 7, 2018
United States Department of Justice
Style	Mr. Attorney General
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	Judiciary Act of 1789
Formation	September 26, 1789
First holder	Edmund Randolph
Succession	Seventh[1]
Deputy	Deputy Attorney General
Salary	$205,700 annually (Executive Schedule, level I)[2]
Website	www.justice.gov

The United States Attorney General (A.G.) is the chief lawyer of the Federal government of the United States and head of the United States Department of Justice per 28 U.S.C. § 503, concerned with all legal affairs.

Under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, the officeholder is nominated by the President of the United States and appointed with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The U.S. Constitution provides that civil officers of the United States, which would include the U.S. Attorney General, may be impeached by Congress for treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors.^[3] The United States Attorney General may be removed at will by the President of the United States under the Supreme Court decision Myers v. United States, which found that executive branch officials may be removed without the consent of any entity.^[4] In cases of the federal death penalty, the power to seek the death penalty rests with the U.S. Attorney General.

History

Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 which, among other things, established the Office of the Attorney General. 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."^[5]

The Department of Justice was established in 1870 to support the Attorney General in the discharge of their responsibilities.

The Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Defense are generally regarded as the four most important Cabinet officials in the United States because of the importance and age of their respective departments.^[6]

Presidential transition

It is the practice for the Attorney General, along with many other public officials, to give resignation with effect on the Inauguration Day (January 20) of a new President. The Deputy Attorney General, who is also required to tender their resignation, is commonly requested to stay on and act as Attorney General pending the confirmation by the Senate of the new Attorney General.

For example, on the inauguration of President Donald Trump on January, 20, 2017, the tenure of the then Attorney General Loretta Lynch was brought to an end, and the Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who had also tendered her resignation, was asked to stay on and be Acting Attorney General until the confirmation of the new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had been nominated for the office in November 2016 by then-President-elect Donald Trump.

List of Attorneys General

Parties

  No party (1)
  Federalist (3)
  Democratic-Republican (5)
  Democratic (34)
  Whig (4)
  Republican (38)

Status

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took office	Left office	President(s)
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
							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
							James Madison
7		William Pinkney	Maryland	December 11, 1811	February 9, 1814
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
							Martin Van Buren
13		Felix Grundy	Tennessee	July 5, 1838	January 10, 1840
14		Henry D. Gilpin	Pennsylvania	January 11, 1840	March 4, 1841
15		John J. Crittenden	Kentucky	March 5, 1841	September 12, 1841		William Henry Harrison
							John Tyler
16		Hugh S. Legaré	South Carolina	September 13, 1841	June 20, 1843
17		John Nelson	Maryland	July 1, 1843	March 4, 1845
18		John Y. Mason	Virginia	March 5, 1845	October 16, 1846		James K. 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	Pennsylvania	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
							Andrew Johnson
28		Henry Stanbery	Ohio	July 23, 1866	July 16, 1868
29		William M. Evarts	New York	July 17, 1868	March 4, 1869
30		Ebenezer R. Hoar	Massachusetts	March 5, 1869	November 22, 1870		Ulysses S. 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 (born in Vermont)	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 H. 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 H. Moody	Massachusetts	July 1, 1904	December 17, 1906
46		Charles J. 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		Alexander 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	Maryland	October 23, 1957	January 20, 1961
64		Robert F. Kennedy	Massachusetts	January 20, 1961	September 3, 1964		John F. Kennedy
							Lyndon B. Johnson
65		Nicholas Katzenbach	Illinois	September 4, 1964[1]	January 28, 1965
				January 28, 1965	November 28, 1966
66		Ramsey Clark	Texas	November 28, 1966[1]	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	May 25, 1973
69		Elliot Richardson	Massachusetts	May 25, 1973	October 20, 1973
–		Robert Bork[3] 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[2] Acting	Pennsylvania	January 20, 1977	January 26, 1977		Jimmy Carter
72		Griffin Bell	Georgia	January 26, 1977	August 16, 1979
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
							George H. W. Bush
77		William P. Barr	New York	August 16, 1991[1]	November 26, 1991
				November 26, 1991	January 20, 1993
–		Stuart M. Gerson[4] Acting	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 1993	March 12, 1993		Bill Clinton
78		Janet Reno	Florida	March 12, 1993	January 20, 2001
–		Eric Holder[2] Acting	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[5] Acting	Washington, D.C.	September 17, 2007	September 18, 2007
–		Peter Keisler[5] Acting	Washington, D.C.	September 18, 2007	November 9, 2007
81		Michael Mukasey	New York	November 9, 2007	January 20, 2009
–		Mark Filip[6] Acting	Illinois	January 20, 2009	February 3, 2009		Barack Obama
82		Eric Holder	Washington, D.C.	February 3, 2009	April 27, 2015
83		Loretta Lynch	New York	April 27, 2015	January 20, 2017
–		Sally Yates Acting	Georgia	January 20, 2017	January 30, 2017		Donald Trump
–		Dana Boente Acting	Virginia	January 30, 2017	February 9, 2017
84		Jeff Sessions	Alabama	February 9, 2017	November 7, 2018
–		Matthew Whitaker Acting	Iowa	November 7, 2018	Incumbent

Living former U.S. Attorneys General

As of November 2018, there are eleven, living former US Attorneys General, the oldest being Ramsey Clark (served 1967–1969, born 1927). The most recent Attorney General to die was Janet Reno (served 1993–2001, born 1938) on November 7, 2016.

Line of succession

U.S.C. Title 28, §508 establishes the first two positions in the line of succession, while allowing the Attorney General to designate other high-ranking officers of the Department of Justice as subsequent successors.^[7] Furthermore, an Executive Order defines subsequent positions, the most recent from March 31, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump.^[8] The current line of succession is:

1. United States Deputy Attorney General


2. United States Associate Attorney General


3. Other Officers potentially designated by the Attorney General (in no particular order):
   
   
   
   • Solicitor General of the United States
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, National Security Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Justice Management Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy
     
   
   
   • Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs
     
   
   
   
   


4. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia


5. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina


6. United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas

See also

• Subpoena duces tecum


• Subpoena ad testificandum


• United States Deputy Attorney General


• United States Associate Attorney General


• United States Assistant Attorney General


• United States Solicitor General


• List of living former members of the United States Cabinet


• 
  Executive Order 13787 for "Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"

Notes

• 
  ¹ Nicholas Katzenbach (1964–1965), Ramsey Clark (1966–1967) and William P. Barr (1991) served as acting attorney general in their capacity as deputy attorney general, until their own appointment as attorney general.


• 
  ² Richard L. Thornburgh (1977) and Eric Holder (2001) served as acting attorney general in their capacity as deputy attorney general, until the appointment of a new attorney general. Both subsequently served as attorney general, Thornburgh 1988–1991 and Holder 2009–2015.


• 
  ³ On October 20, 1973, Solicitor General Robert Bork became acting attorney general following the "Saturday Night Massacre", in which U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus both resigned.


• 
  ⁴ Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division Stuart M. Gerson was acting attorney general from January 20, 1993, to March 12, 1993.^[9][10] Gerson was fourth in the line of succession at the Justice Department (other senior DOJ officials had already resigned).^[11] During his time as Acting AG, Gerson supported the Brady bill^[10] and was in office in the beginnings of the Waco siege.^[12]Janet Reno, President Clinton's nominee for attorney general, was confirmed on March 12,^[13] and he resigned the same day.^[13] Acting Attorney General Gerson's last day at the Justice Department was March 19.^[12]
  

• 
  ⁵ On August 27, 2007, President Bush named Solicitor General Paul Clement as the future acting attorney general, to take office upon the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, effective September 17, 2007.^[14] According to administration officials, Clement took that office at 12:01 am September 17, 2007, and left office 24 hours later.^[15] On September 17, President Bush announced that Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Civil Division Peter Keisler would become acting attorney general, pending a permanent appointment of a presidential nominee.^[16][17] Keisler served as acting attorney general until the nomination of Michael Mukasey on November 9, 2007.

• 
  ⁶ Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip was asked to assume the position of acting attorney general by then President-elect Obama.^[18] Filip led the Department while President Obama's nominee, then Attorney-General Designate Eric Holder, awaited confirmation by the United States Senate.^[19][20] Holder was confirmed on February 2, 2009,^[21] and sworn in the next day,^[22] thus ending Filip's tenure as the acting attorney general.

References

External links

• 
  Official website