Eric Holder

Susan Walsh / AP

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Eric Holder is Barack Obama's Attorney General.

Though Holder is no stranger to the Justice Department. In 1997, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General by President Bill Clinton, serving until the end of Clinton's term. As Obama's AG, he's charged with deciding what to do with terror suspects now held in Guantanamo Bay, navigating the Administration's approach to the war on terror and restorig the morale of an agency still reeling over the attorney firing scandals that occurred during the tenure of Alberto Gonzales.

Holder was born January 21, 1951 in New York City to immigrant parents from Barbados. He attended Stuyvesant High School—one of New York City's top public high schools—and Columbia University.

In 1993, Holder was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the nation's largest U.S. Attorney office. Four years later, he became Deputy Attorney General. He was the first black person to serve in both positions.

The most controversial moment of Holder's career came at the end of President Clinton's term. On Jan. 19, 2001, the day before President George W. Bush was inaugurated, Holder reviewed a pardon application for fugitive billionaire Marc Rich. He was "neutral leaning toward favorable" on the prospect. The next day, Clinton signed the pardon. When it was revealed that Rich's wife had donated heavily to Clinton's presidential library, it was suspected that favor trading was involved. Both Congress and a grand jury investigated the case.

While working at law firm Covington & Burling, Holder was hired by the NFL to look into the dogfighting charges against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. He was also part of a group that tried to buy that Washington Nationals.

Holder met Obama in 2004, during a dinner party thrown to welcome the new Senator to Washington, and the two realized they had much in common. Holder became a fundraiser and surrogate for Obama during the campaign.

Holder is married to obstetrician Sharon Malone (younger sister of the woman who integrated the University of Alabama). They have three children.

-Gilbert Cruz