Eric Holder | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2009 | |
82nd United States Attorney General | |
In office February 3, 2009 – April 27, 2015 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Deputy | David W. Ogden James M. Cole Sally Yates |
Preceded by | Michael Mukasey |
Succeeded by | Loretta Lynch |
Acting January 20, 2001 – February 2, 2001 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Janet Reno |
Succeeded by | John Ashcroft |
29th United States Deputy Attorney General | |
In office June 13, 1997 – February 2, 2001 | |
President | Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Jamie Gorelick |
Succeeded by | Larry Thompson |
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia | |
In office January 20, 1993 – June 13, 1997 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Preceded by | John Ramsey Johnson |
Succeeded by | Mary Lou Leary |
Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia | |
In office 1988–1993 | |
Nominated by | Ronald Reagan |
Preceded by | Virginia Riley |
Succeeded by | Judith Bartnoff |
Personal details | |
Born | Eric Himpton Holder Jr. January 21, 1951 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Sharon Malone (m. 1990) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Columbia University (BA, JD) |
Signature | ![]() |
Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd United States attorney general from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Holder was the first African American to hold the position.[1]
Born in New York City to a middle-class family of Barbadian origin, Holder graduated from Stuyvesant High School, Columbia College, and Columbia Law School. Following law school, he worked for the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice for twelve years. He next served as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia before being appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and subsequently U.S. deputy attorney general.
Holder prosecuted cases involving government corruption.[2] While U.S. attorney, he prosecuted congressman Dan Rostenkowski for corruption charges related to his role in the Congressional Post Office scandal. Following the Clinton administration, he worked at Covington & Burling, representing the firm's multinational corporate clients in litigation. Holder was senior legal advisor to Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign and one of three members of his vice-presidential selection committee. Holder was a close ally and confidante of Obama's and was selected as his first attorney general.
Holder became the first sitting attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress during an investigation of the Operation Fast and Furious ATF gunwalking scandal. The Justice Department's inspector general under Obama refused to prosecute him and later cleared him of the charges. After he was succeeded as attorney general by Loretta Lynch in April 2015, Holder returned to Covington & Burling, where he continues to practice corporate litigation, and is also involved with efforts at gerrymandering reform through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.