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Eric Holder to Become First US African-American Attorney General
World | November 19, 2008, Wednesday // 00:00
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President-elect Barack Obama will appoint former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to the position of attorney general, according to US media reports citing two prominent Democrats involved in transition matters.
If confirmed, Holder, 57, would be the first African-American to occupy the senior position and Obama's first publicly-known cabinet appointment.
Holder has indicated he will accept the job if it is offered, the sources said.
The new attorney general will have as one of his main tasks leading the administration's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, a move Mr Obama has singled out as a priority.
Holder co-chaired President-elect Obama's vice presidential selection process. A graduate of Columbia University and former federal prosecutor, he is a partner at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling and has served on numerous philanthropic boards and has won several awards and honorary degrees.
Holder first joined the Justice Department in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976.
President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be an associate judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he served for five years.
He left that post to become the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, chosen by President Bill Clinton. He served in that position until Clinton picked him to become Deputy Attorney general, the first African American to hold that position as well.
Eric Holder also has strong, long-standing relationship with FBI Director Robert Mueller, who is expected to remain in that post.
In 2000, Holder controversially advised President Clinton - on the last day of his administration - that he was "neutral, leaning towards favorable" about pardoning fugitive financier Marc Rich.
Rich fled to Switzerland in 1983 while being prosecuted on tax evasion charges. Clinton pardoned him in 2001 just before he left office.
Critics accused the outgoing president of issuing the pardon because Rich's wife had donated money to Clinton's presidential library.
If confirmed, Holder, 57, would be the first African-American to occupy the senior position and Obama's first publicly-known cabinet appointment.
Holder has indicated he will accept the job if it is offered, the sources said.
The new attorney general will have as one of his main tasks leading the administration's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, a move Mr Obama has singled out as a priority.
Holder co-chaired President-elect Obama's vice presidential selection process. A graduate of Columbia University and former federal prosecutor, he is a partner at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling and has served on numerous philanthropic boards and has won several awards and honorary degrees.
Holder first joined the Justice Department in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976.
President Ronald Reagan nominated him to be an associate judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he served for five years.
He left that post to become the first African-American U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, chosen by President Bill Clinton. He served in that position until Clinton picked him to become Deputy Attorney general, the first African American to hold that position as well.
Eric Holder also has strong, long-standing relationship with FBI Director Robert Mueller, who is expected to remain in that post.
In 2000, Holder controversially advised President Clinton - on the last day of his administration - that he was "neutral, leaning towards favorable" about pardoning fugitive financier Marc Rich.
Rich fled to Switzerland in 1983 while being prosecuted on tax evasion charges. Clinton pardoned him in 2001 just before he left office.
Critics accused the outgoing president of issuing the pardon because Rich's wife had donated money to Clinton's presidential library.
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