Missing imageAlberto_Gonzales_-_official_DoJ_photograph.jpg Alberto Gonzales, current Attorney General of the United States
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 current Attorney General is Alberto Gonzales.
The office of Attorney General was established by Congress in 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." (Judiciary Act of 1789, section 35.) Only in 1870 was the Department of Justice established to support the Attorney General in the discharge of his responsibilities.
The members of the Department of Justice represent the United States in legal matters generally and offer advice and opinions to the President and to the heads of the executive departments of the Government when so requested. The Attorney General appears in person to represent the Government before the Supreme Court in cases of exceptional importance. Under most circumstances the United States Solicitor General argues before the Supreme Court on the government's behalf.
The Attorney General is a member of the President's Cabinet, the only member who is not given the title Secretary.
United States Attorneys General
| Name
| Term of Office
| President(s) served under
|
| Edmund Randolph
| 1789 – 1794
| George Washington
|
| William Bradford
| 1794 – 1795
| George Washington
|
| Charles Lee
| 1795 – 1801
| George Washington, John Adams
|
| Levi Lincoln
| 1801 – 1805
| Thomas Jefferson
|
| Robert Smith
| 1805
| Thomas Jefferson
|
| John Breckinridge
| 1805 – 1806
| Thomas Jefferson
|
| Caesar A. Rodney
| 1807 – 1811
| Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
|
| William Pinkney
| 1811 – 1814
| James Madison
|
| Richard Rush
| 1814 – 1817
| James Madison
|
| William Wirt
| 1817 – 1829
| James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
|
| John M. Berrien
| 1829 – 1831
| Andrew Jackson
|
| Roger B. Taney
| 1831 – 1833
| Andrew Jackson
|
| Benjamin F. Butler
| 1833 – 1838
| Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
|
| Felix Grundy
| 1838 – 1839
| Martin Van Buren
|
| Henry Gilpin
| 1840 – 1841
| Martin Van Buren
|
| John J. Crittenden
| 1841 – 1841
| William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
|
| Hugh S. Legaré
| 1841 – 1843
| John Tyler
|
| John Nelson
| 1843 – 1845
| John Tyler
|
| John Y. Mason
| 1845 – 1846
| James Knox Polk
|
| Nathan Clifford
| 1846 – 1848
| James Knox Polk
|
| Isaac Toucey
| 1848 – 1849
| James Knox Polk
|
| Reverdy Johnson
| 1849 – 1850
| Zachary Taylor
|
| John J. Crittenden
| 1850 – 1853
| Millard Fillmore
|
| Caleb Cushing
| 1853 – 1857
| Franklin Pierce
|
| Jeremiah S. Black
| 1857 – 1860
| James Buchanan
|
| Edwin M. Stanton
| 1860 – 1861
| James Buchanan
|
| Edward Bates
| 1861 – 1864
| Abraham Lincoln
|
| James Speed
| 1864 – 1866
| Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
|
| Henry Stanberry
| 1866 – 1868
| Andrew Johnson
|
| William M. Evarts
| 1868 – 1869
| Andrew Johnson
|
| Ebenezer R. Hoar
| 1869 – 1870
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| Amos T. Akerman
| 1870 – 1872
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| George H. Williams
| 1871 – 1875
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| Edwards Pierrepont
| 1875 – 1876
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| Alphonso Taft
| 1876 – 1877
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| Charles Devens
| 1877 – 1881
| Rutherford B. Hayes
|
| Wayne MacVeagh
| 1881 – 1881
| James Garfield
|
| Benjamin H. Brewster
| 1881 – 1885
| Chester A. Arthur
|
| Augustus Hill Garland
| 1885 – 1889
| Grover Cleveland
|
| William H.H. Miller
| 1889 – 1893
| Benjamin Harrison
|
| Richard Olney
| 1893 – 1895
| Grover Cleveland
|
| Judson Harmon
| 1895 – 1897
| Grover Cleveland
|
| Joseph McKenna
| 1897 – 1898
| William McKinley
|
| John W. Griggs
| 1898 – 1901
| William McKinley
|
| Philander C. Knox
| 1901 – 1904
| William McKinley
|
| William H. Moody
| 1904 – 1906
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Charles Joseph Bonaparte
| 1906 – 1909
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| George W. Wickersham
| 1909 – 1913
| William Howard Taft
|
| James C. McReynolds
| 1913 – 1914
| Woodrow Wilson
|
| Thomas Watt Gregory
| 1914 – 1919
| Woodrow Wilson
|
| A. Mitchell Palmer
| 1919 – 1921
| Woodrow Wilson
|
| Harry M. Daugherty
| 1921 – 1924
| Warren G. Harding
|
| Harlan Fiske Stone
| 1924 – 1925
| Calvin Coolidge
|
| John G. Sargent
| 1925 – 1929
| Calvin Coolidge
|
| William D. Mitchell
| 1929 – 1933
| Herbert Hoover
|
| Homer S. Cummings
| 1933 – 1939
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Frank Murphy
| 1939 – 1940
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Robert H. Jackson
| 1940 – 1941
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Francis Biddle
| 1941 – 1945
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Tom C. Clark
| 1945 – 1949
| Harry S. Truman
|
| J. Howard McGrath
| 1949 – 1952
| Harry S. Truman
|
| James P. McGranery
| 1952 – 1953
| Harry S. Truman
|
| Herbert Brownell, Jr.
| 1953 – 1957
| Dwight D. Eisenhower
|
| William P. Rogers
| 1957 – 1961
| Dwight D. Eisenhower
|
| Robert F. Kennedy
| 1961 – 1964
| John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson
|
| Nicholas deB. Katzenbach
| 1965 – 1966
| Lyndon Johnson
|
| Ramsey Clark
| 1967 – 1969
| Lyndon Johnson
|
| John Mitchell
| 1969 – 1972
| Richard Nixon
|
| Richard G. Kleindienst
| 1972 – 1973
| Richard Nixon
|
| Elliot L. Richardson
| 1973 – 1973
| Richard Nixon
|
| William B. Saxbe
| 1974 – 1975
| Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
|
| Edward H. Levi
| 1975 – 1977
| Gerald Ford
|
| Griffin B. Bell
| 1977 – 1979
| Jimmy Carter
|
| Benjamin R. Civiletti
| 1979 – 1981
| Jimmy Carter
|
| William French Smith
| 1981 – 1985
| Ronald Reagan
|
| Edwin Meese III
| 1985 – 1988
| Ronald Reagan
|
| Richard L. Thornburgh
| 1988 – 1991
| Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush
|
| William Barr
| 1991 – 1993
| George H. W. Bush
|
| Janet Reno
| 1993 – 2001
| Bill Clinton
|
| John Ashcroft
| 2001 – 2005
| George W. Bush
|
| Alberto Gonzales
| 2005 – present
| George W. Bush
|
Reference
External link
