William Barr

William Barr REPRepublican

77th & 85th United States Attorney General

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William BarrREPRepublican 77th & 85th United States Attorney General
73
Years of Age
DCResidence (state)

William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney who served as the United States attorney general in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and again in the administration of President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020. Born and raised in New York City, Barr was educated at the Horace Mann School, Columbia University, and George Washington University Law School. From 1971 to 1977, Barr was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency. He then served as a law clerk to judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In the 1980s, Barr worked for the law firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge, with one year's work in the White House of the Ronald Reagan administration dealing with legal policies. Before becoming attorney general in 1991, Barr held numerous other posts within the Department of Justice, including leading the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and serving as deputy attorney general. From 1994 to 2008, Barr did corporate legal work for GTE and its successor company Verizon Communications, which made him a multimillionaire. From 2009 to 2018, Barr served on the board of directors for Time Warner. Barr is a longtime proponent of the unitary executive theory of nearly unfettered presidential authority over the executive branch of the U.S. government. In 1989, Barr, as the head of the OLC, justified the U.S. invasion of Panama to arrest Manuel Noriega.

Education5 - 5 of 3
George Washington University
JD
1977
Columbia University
MA Government/Chinese Studies
1973
Columbia University
AB
1971
Past Positions1 - 11 of 11
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
2019
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
2018
Deputy Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
Assistant Attorney General
Office of Legal Counsel, United States Department of Justice
Of Counsel
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
2009
Executive Vice President
Verizon Communications
2000 - 2008
Executive Vice President
GTE Corporation
1994 - 2000
Staff Member
White House Domestic Policy, President Ronald Reagan
1982 - 1983
Law Clerk
Judge Malcolm Wilkey, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
1978
Served
Central Intelligence Agency
1973 - 1977
Former Partner
Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge
Other Experience1 - 5 of 5
Executive Office of the President of the United States
United States of America
1982 - 1983
United States Department of Justice
United States of America
1989 - 1993
Central Intelligence Agency
United States of America
1973 - 1977
GTE
United States of America
1994 - 2000
Verizon Communications
United States of America
2000 - 2008