Eric Holder is an American lawyer who has has served as the 82nd U.S. Attorney during the Obama administration!
But do you know everything about him?
- His full name is Eric Himpton Holder Jr.
- He was born on January 21, 1951
- He is an American lawyer
- Who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015
- Eric Holder was the first African American to hold the position of U.S. Attorney General
- In both a confirmed and acting position
- He was serving under the Obama administration
- Born in New York City to a middle class family of Barbadian origins
- Eric Holder was raised in a predominantly black community
- But attended school with mostly white students as part of a gifted education program
- He graduated from Stuyvesant High School
- Columbia College
- And Columbia Law School
- Following law school, he left New York to work for the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice for 12 years
- He next served as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
- Before being appointed by President Bill Clinton as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia
- And subsequently Deputy Attorney General
- While U.S. Attorney, he prosecuted Congressman Dan Rostenkowski for corruption charges related to his role in the Congressional Post Office scandal
- Following the Clinton administration, he worked at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
- He was senior legal advisor to Barack Obama during Obama’s presidential campaign
- And one of three members of Obama’s vice-presidential selection committee
- Eric Holder was a close ally and confidant of Obama’s
- And was selected as President Obama’s first Attorney General
- The Republican-controlled House of Representatives held Holder in contempt of Congress during an investigation of the ATF gunwalking scandal
- The Justice Department’s Inspector General later cleared Holder of any wrongdoing
- Eric Holder was succeeded as Attorney General by Loretta Lynch in April 2015
- He returned to Covington & Burling
- There he continues to practice
- And is also involved with efforts at gerrymandering reform through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee
- Eric Holder is married to Sharon Malone
- She is an obstetrician
- The couple have three children
- Malone’s sister was Vivian Malone Jones
- Famous for her part in the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
- Which led to integration at the University of Alabama
- Eric Holder has been involved with various mentoring programs for inner-city youth
- He is also an avid basketball fan
- And the uncle of former NBA All-Star Jeff Malone
- Eric Holder and his wife live in Washington, D.C.
- Eric Holder received an honorary Doctor of Laws from his alma mater, Columbia University, in May 2017
