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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 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 of the United States 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.

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
John Breckenridge 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 D. Gilpin 1840-1841 Martin Van Buren
John J. Crittenden 1841-1841 William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
Hugh S. Legare 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
Issac Toucey 1848-1849 James Knox Polk
Reverdy Johnson 1849-1850 James Knox Polk
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 T. 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
Nicholas deB. Katzenbach 1965-1966 Lyndon Johnson
Ramsey Clark 1967-1969 Lyndon Johnson
John N. 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
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 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-present George W. Bush

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