Obama taps Eric Holder as Attorney General; Acceptance in play pending vetting process

Barack Obama is busy picking his cabinet, potential controversial awaits. Most recently in his announcement that he has selected Eric Himpter Holder, Jr., as Attorney General of the United States.

Holder, who along with Jack Quinn, was at the center of the controversial presidential pardon of fugitive Marc Rich on the last day of the Clinton Administration. He was later replaced by G.W. Bush pick John Ashcroft.

Holder, who was born in 1951 in the Bronx section of New York City to parents who had emigrated from Barbados, grew up in Queens and attended Columbia University, where he earned a B.A. in 1973 and a J.D. in 1976.

In 1993, Holder was appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Bill Clinton, who also nominated him to serve as Deputy Attorney General in 1997]. Holder was the first African American to serve in each of those positions.

If his nomination is approved by the U.S. Senate, he will be the first African-American to head the Justice Department. Holder's ascension to the Cabinet will follow the paths of General Colin Powell, who served as Secretary of State in the administration of George W. Bush, and Condoleezza Rice, Powell's successor at State under President Bush, as prominent African-American members of a presidential cabinet.


Story posted: 11/20/2008

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