Attorney General Eric Holder makes his way to Ferguson, Mo in the wake of civil unrest after the killing of Michael Brown. After briefing President Obama on the situation, Holder informed the President that he would visit the site himself. His visit is scheduled to begin on August 20th. I thought it might be interesting to learn a bit about the highest ranking law enforcement officer in America.
Eric Holder was born on January 21st, 1951 in New York City. He attended Columbia Law School. Holder was an associate judge of the D.C. Superior Court under Reagan; U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., then deputy attorney general under Clinton; and for Obama, Holder was senior legal advisor to his presidential campaign, and is now the first African-American Attorney General in history.
His mother was a telephone operator, and his father
was a real estate broker. His parents both held strong ties to Barbados; his
father emigrated from Saint Joseph, and his mother's family emigrated from
Saint Philip. The eldest of two brothers, Holder grew up in the predominantly
black neighborhood of East Elmhurst, Queens.
Holder attended a public school in his neighborhood
until the fourth grade, when he was selected to participate in a program for
intellectually gifted children. The school consisted of predominantly white
students, which Holder says forced him to keep his "foot in both worlds."
This only became more apparent when it came time to attend high school. While
his friends at home chose to attend public schools in Queens, Holder's white
schoolmates were taking an exam to enter the city's most elite institutions.
Holder got into the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, an hour-and-a-half
commute from his home, which pulled him even farther away from his neighborhood
friends and community. In 1969 he earned
his high school diploma, as well as a Regents Scholarship.
That same year, Holder entered college at Columbia
University. He played freshman basketball, attended shows at the Apollo Theater
in Harlem, spent Saturdays mentoring local kids, and became active in civil
rights. He received his bachelor's degree in American history from Columbia University
in 1973. In 1974, he began attending Columbia Law School while also clerking
for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Department of Justice's Criminal
Division.
In 1976, Holder earned his law degree, and The
Department of Justice gave him a job as part of the attorney general's honors
program. He was assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section, which
investigated and prosecuted official corruption on the local, state and federal
levels.
In 1988, Holder was nominated by former President
Reagan to become an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia. During this time he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal
trials. Holder was then nominated by President Clinton to serve as the U.S.
attorney for Washington, D.C. in 1993. He was the first African-American to
serve in the position. During his four-year term, he created a domestic
violence unit, a community prosecution project, and a program for restricting
gun laws.
In 1990, Holder married Sharon Malone, the sister of the late Vivian Malone Jones, the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama, class of ’65, segregationist Gov. George C. Wallace be damned. Holder’s wife, Sharon Malone, is already well known in certain circles: Ivy League-educated IBM systems engineer turned Ob/Gyn to some of Washington's best-connected women. The Holders have three children, Maya, Brooke, and Eric.
Holder was then nominated by President Clinton to serve as the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. in 1993. He was the first African-American to serve in the position. During his four-year term, he created a domestic violence unit, a community prosecution project, and a program for restricting gun laws.
Look for Part 2 of "On the Record: Meet Atty General Eric Holder" and learn more about the nation's top cop.
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