Alberto R. Gonzales

Alberto R. Gonzales
Alberto Gonzales; 80th Attorney General of the United States
Born	August 4, 1955
Term	February 3, 2005 - August 28, 2007

Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) was the 80th Attorney General of the United States, succeeding John Ashcroft. He is a graduate of Rice University, and a former member of Lovett College. Gonzales was one of the best students in his graduating class, considered one of the school's brightest and most intellectually rigorous students. In 2007 he came under attack for the firing of 8 US attorneys across America. As of April 19, 2007 President Bush has stated that he will not call for the resignation of Gonzales. He resigned from the post on August 28 of the same year.

Early Life

Alberto Gonzales was born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Humble, near Houston. He was the second of eight children born to Pablo and Maria Gonzales. His father, who died in 1982, was a construction worker. An honors student at MacArthur High School, Gonzales enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1973, for a four year term of enlistment, serving two years at Fort Yukon, Alaska and two years as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. Prior to beginning his third year at the academy, which would have caused him to incur a further service obligation, he transferred to Rice University (Houston, Texas), where he was a member of Lovett College and earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1979. He then earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School in 1982.

Achievements

• Led Project Safe Neighborhoods to help eliminate violence in inner cities.
• Was instrumental in passing the Military Commissions Act

"Controversies"

Alberto Gonzales was the center of a controversy over the firings of 8 United States attorneys. Detractors insisted that the attorneys were fired for political reasons, instead of performance-based reasons (a claim that no one in the White House has ever made, though some Justice Department officials initially made this claim in Congressional testimony). Despite the fact that United States attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States, and can be fired at any time for any reason, the liberally biased media insists on calling it a scandal. So, even if the President did want to remove any United States attorney just because he or she was a Democrat, the President would be within his purview to do so. In fact, Alberto Gonzales "tempered the White House desire to replace U.S. Attorneys wholesale." During his testimony over this "Controversy", Mr. Gonzales stated 74 times that he could not recall various events relating to the situation.

Trivia

• Albert Gonzales was voted the Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas in 1992.
• His Secret Service nickname is "Elephant", a reference to his uncanny ability to memorize obscure parts of United States law.

External links

• Alberto R. Gonzales The White House.