A Discussion with Eric Holder, US attorney general in the Obama Administration

President Barack Obama nominated Eric Holder to be attorney general, and the United States Senate confirmed his nomination on February 2, 2009. Holder began his service as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States the following day. He was the first African American to serve in that position. He remained in office until April 27, 2015, becoming the third-longest-serving attorney general in the nation’s history. A graduate of Columbia College, Holder earned his law degree at Columbia Law School. As attorney general, he oversaw the government’s efforts to address many critically important issues arising at the intersection of law and public policy, including national security investigations and prosecutions; landmark antitrust, environmental, fraud, and tax cases; the defense of voting rights and marriage equality; and reform of the federal criminal justice system. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan appointed Holder to serve as an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he presided over hundreds of criminal and civil trials during his five years on the bench. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Holder to serve as the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Holder to serve as deputy attorney general of the United States, a position that he held until the end of the Clinton Administration. He was the first African American to serve as deputy attorney general and United States attorney for the District of Columbia. At the request of President George W. Bush, Holder served as acting attorney general in 2001 pending the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft. In 2014, TIME magazine named Holder to its list of the “100 Most Influential People,” stating that he “worked tirelessly to ensure equal justice.”