The Attorney General is the head of the department concerned with legal affairs (the Department of Justice) and chief law enforcement officer of the Federal 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 U.S. Supreme Court in cases of exceptional importance. He is a member of the President's Cabinet.
ATTORNEYS GENERAL
NAME TERM PRESIDENT
- Edmund Randolph 1789-1794 Washington
- William Bradford 1794-1795 Washington
- Charles Lee 1795-1801 Washington & John Adams
- Levi Lincoln 1801-1805 Jefferson
- John Breckenridge 1805-1806 Jefferson
- Caesar A. Rodney 1807-1811 Jefferson & Madison
- William Pinkney 1811-1814 Madison
- Richard Rush 1814-1817 Madison
William Wirt 1817-1829 Monroe & John Q. Adams John M. Berrien 1829-1831 Jackson Roger B. Taney 1831-1833 Jackson Benjamin F. Butler 1833-1838 Jackson & Van Buren Felix Grundy 1838-1839 Van Buren Henry D. Gilpin 1840-1841 Van Buren John J. Crittenden 1841-1841 Harrison & Tyler Hugh S. Legare 1841-1843 Tyler John Nelson 1843-1845 Tyler John Y. Mason 1845-1846 Polk Nathan Clifford 1846-1848 Polk Issac Toucey 1848-1849 Polk Reverdy Johnson 1849-1850 Taylor John J. Crittenden 1850-1853 Fillmore Caleb Cushing 1853-1857 Pierce Jeremiah S. Black 1857-1860 Buchanan Edwin M. Stanton 1860-1861 Buchanan Edward Bates 1861-1864 Lincoln James Speed 1864-1866 Lincoln & Johnson Henry Stanberry 1866-1868 Johnson William M. Evarts 1868-1869 Johnson Ebenzer R. Hoar 1869-1870 Grant Amos T. Akerman 1870-1872 Grant George H. Williams 1871-1875 Grant Edwards Pierrepont 1875-1876 Grant Alphonso Taft 1876-1877 Grant Charles Devens 1877-1881 Hayes Wayne MacVeagh 1881-1881 Garfield Benjamin H. Brewster 1881-1885 Arthur Augustus H. Garland 1885-1889 Cleveland William H.H. Miller 1889-1893 Harrison Richard Olney 1893-1895 Cleveland Judson Harmon 1895-1897 Cleveland Joseph McKenna 1897-1898 McKinley John W. Griggs 1898-1901 McKinley Philander C. Knox 1901-1904 McKinley William H. Moody 1904-1906 Roosevelt Charles J. Bonaparte 1906-1909 Roosevelt George W. Wickersham 1909-1913 Taft James C. McReynolds 1913-1914 Wilson Thomas Watt Gregory 1914-1919 Wilson A. Mitchell Palmer 1919-1921 Wilson Harry M. Daugherty 1921-1924 Harding Harlan Fiske Stone 1924-1925 Coolidge John T. Sargent 1925-1929 Coolidge William D. Mitchell 1929-1933 Hoover Homer S. Cummings 1933-1939 Roosevelt Frank Murphy 1939-1940 Roosevelt Robert H. Jackson 1940-1941 Roosevelt Francis Biddle 1941-1945 Roosevelt Tom C. Clark 1945-1949 Truman J. Howard McGrath 1949-1952 Truman James P. McGranery 1952-1953 Truman Herbert Brownell,Jr. 1953-1957 Eisenhower William P. Rogers 1957-1961 Eisenhower Robert F. Kennedy 1961-1964 Kennedy Nicholas deB. Katzenbach 1965-1966 Johnson Ramsey Clark 1967-1969 Johnson John N. Mitchell 1969-1972 Nixon Richard G. Kleindienst 1972-1973 Nixon Elliot L. Richardson 1973-1973 Nixon William B. Saxbe 1974-1975 Nixon Edward H. Levi 1975-1977 Ford Griffin B. Bell 1977-1979 Carter Benjamin R. Civiletti 1979-1981 Carter William French Smith 1981-1985 Reagan Edwin Meese III 1985-1988 Reagan Richard Thornburgh 1988-1991 Reagan & George Bush William Barr 1991-1993 George Bush Janet Reno 1993-2001 Clinton John Ashcroft 2001- George W. Bush