United States Deputy Attorney General
Encyclopedia
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
. In the United States federal government, the Deputy Attorney General
Deputy Attorney General
Deputy Attorney General is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the Deputy Attorney General oversees the day-to-day operation of the department, and may act as Attorney General during the absence of...
oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department of Justice, and may act as Attorney General
United States Attorney General
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...
during the absence of the Attorney General. The Deputy Attorney General is appointed by the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
with the advice and consent of the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
. The position was created in 1950.
Since December 2010 the office is held by James M. Cole
James M. Cole
James Michael Cole is an American attorney who has served as United States Deputy Attorney General since December 29, 2010. He was first installed as Deputy Attorney General following a recess appointment by President Barack Obama on December 29, 2010...
, who received a recess appointment
Recess appointment
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
by President Obama and subsequently was confirmed by the Senate in June 2011.
2007 Turnover
On May 14, 2007 Paul McNultyPaul McNulty
Paul J. McNulty is the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, having previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He held the position until July 26, 2007....
, then Deputy Attorney General, announced his resignation in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales was the 80th Attorney General of the United States. Gonzales was appointed to the post in February 2005 by President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic Attorney General in U.S. history and the highest-ranking Hispanic government official ever...
. At the time, McNulty was considered "the highest-ranking Bush administration casualty in the furor over the firing of U.S. attorneys
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
The dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy was initiated by the unprecedented midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys on December 7, 2006 by the George W. Bush administration's Department of Justice. Congressional investigations focused on whether the Department of Justice and the White...
."
Later, Gonzales himself would resign.
On July 18, 2007 President Bush announced his appointment of Craig S. Morford
Craig S. Morford
Craig S. Morford is an American attorney and former acting United States Deputy Attorney General. He is best known for his successful prosecution of James A. Traficant and The Morford Report, written after the overturning of the 2003 Detroit Sleeper Cell convictions.- Personal life :Craig Morford...
as acting Deputy Attorney General. Morford had been serving as the U.S. attorney in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, and was known for his successful prosecution of former Ohio Representative James Traficant
James Traficant
James Anthony Traficant, Jr. is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio . He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley...
on bribery charges.
List of United States Deputy Attorneys General
| Name | Years in Office | Appointed By |
|---|---|---|
| A. Devitt Vanech | 1951 – 1952 | Eisenhower |
| Ross L. Malone | 1952 – 1953 | Eisenhower |
| William P. Rogers William P. Rogers William Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :... |
1953 – 1957 | Eisenhower |
| Lawrence E. Walsh | 1957 – 1960 | Kennedy |
| Byron White Byron White Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993... |
1961 – 1962 | Kennedy |
| Nicholas Katzenbach Nicholas Katzenbach Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.-Early life:... |
1962 – 1965 | Kennedy |
| Ramsey Clark Ramsey Clark William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson... |
1965 – 1967 | Johnson |
| Warren Christopher Warren Christopher Warren Minor Christopher was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician. During Bill Clinton's first term as President, Christopher served as the 63rd Secretary of State. He also served as Deputy Attorney General in the Lyndon Johnson administration, and as Deputy Secretary of State in the Jimmy... |
1967 – 1969 | Johnson |
| Richard G. Kleindienst | 1969 – 1972 | Nixon |
| Ralph E. Erickson | 1972 – 1973 | Nixon |
| Joseph Sneed Joseph Tyree Sneed III Joseph Tyree Sneed, III was a former Republican United States Deputy Attorney General and a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for nearly 35 years until his death.-Early life:... |
1973 | Nixon |
| William Ruckelshaus William Ruckelshaus William Doyle Ruckelshaus is an American attorney and, several times, U.S. government official. He served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States... |
1973 | Nixon |
| Laurence Silberman | 1974 – 1975 | Ford |
| Harold R. Tyler, Jr. Harold R. Tyler, Jr. Harold R. Tyler, Jr. was a United States federal judge.Born in Utica, New York, Tyler received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1943 and served as a Captain in the United States Army during World War II. He then received an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1949, entering private practice in... |
1975 – 1977 | Ford |
| Peter F. Flaherty Peter F. Flaherty Peter Francis "Pete" Flaherty was an American politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.He served as Assistant District Attorney of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania from 1957 to 1964; a City of Pittsburgh Councilman 1966 to 1970; Democratic mayor of Pittsburgh from 1970 to 1977; United States Deputy... |
1977 – 1978 | Carter |
| Benjamin R. Civiletti | 1978 – 1979 | Carter |
| Charles B. Renfrew | 1980 – 1981 | Carter |
| Edward C. Schmults | 1981 – 1984 | Reagan |
| Carol E. Dinkins | 1984 – 1985 | Reagan |
| D. Lowell Jensen | 1985 – 1986 | Reagan |
| Arnold I. Burns | 1986 – 1988 | Reagan |
| Harold G. Christensen | 1988 – 1989 | Reagan |
| Donald B. Ayer | 1989 – 1990 | George H.W. Bush |
| William P. Barr | 1990 – 1991 | George H.W. Bush |
| George J. Terwilliger III George J. Terwilliger III George J. Terwilliger III is an American lawyer and politician. He is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of White & Case LLP and is a former United States Deputy Attorney General and acting United States Attorney General. Terwilliger, of Vermont, was nominated February 14, 1992, by... |
1992 – 1993 | George H.W. Bush |
| Philip B. Heymann Philip B. Heymann Philip B. Heymann is a former Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration and currently a law professor at Harvard Law School. He has been known as an active critic of the George W... |
1993 – 1994 | Clinton |
| Jamie Gorelick Jamie Gorelick Jamie S. Gorelick is an American attorney, presently representing BP. She was Deputy Attorney General of the United States during the Clinton administration... |
1994 – 1997 | Clinton |
| Eric Holder Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position, serving under President Barack Obama.... |
1997 – 2001 | Clinton |
| Larry Thompson Larry Thompson Larry Dean Thompson is an American lawyer, most notable for his service as deputy Attorney General of the United States under United States President George W. Bush until August 2003... |
2001 – 2003 | George W. Bush |
| James Comey | 2003 – 2005 | George W. Bush |
| Paul McNulty Paul McNulty Paul J. McNulty is the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, having previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He held the position until July 26, 2007.... |
2005 – 2007 | George W. Bush |
| Craig Morford (acting) | 2007 – 2008 | George W. Bush |
| Mark Filip Mark Filip Mark Filip is a former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and in that capacity served as Acting Attorney General from January 20 to February 3, 2009... |
2008 – 2009 | George W. Bush |
| David W. Ogden David W. Ogden David William Ogden , known professionally as David W. Ogden, is the former Deputy Attorney General of the United States... |
2009 – 2010 | Obama |
| Gary Grindler (acting) | 2010 | Obama |
| James M. Cole James M. Cole James Michael Cole is an American attorney who has served as United States Deputy Attorney General since December 29, 2010. He was first installed as Deputy Attorney General following a recess appointment by President Barack Obama on December 29, 2010... |
2010 – present | Obama |