Alberto Gonzales

Alberto Gonzales
Official portrait, 2005
80th United States Attorney General
In office
February 3, 2005 – September 17, 2007
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
DeputyJames Comey
Paul McNulty
Craig S. Morford (acting)
Preceded byJohn Ashcroft
Succeeded byMichael Mukasey
White House Counsel
In office
January 20, 2001 – February 3, 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byBeth Nolan
Succeeded byHarriet Miers
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 20, 2001
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRaul Gonzalez
Succeeded byWallace B. Jefferson
100th Secretary of State of Texas
In office
January 1, 1998 – January 3, 1999
GovernorGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byTony Garza
Succeeded byElton Bomer
Personal details
Born (1955-08-04) August 4, 1955 (age 69)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Diana Clemens (div. 1985)
Rebecca Turner
Children3
EducationRice University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Years of service1973–1975

Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General from 2005 to 2007 and is the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government to date.[1] He previously served as Secretary of State of Texas, as a Texas Supreme Court Justice, and as White House Counsel, becoming the first Hispanic to hold that office.

Gonzales's tenure as U.S. Attorney General was marked by controversy regarding warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens and the legal authorization of "enhanced interrogation techniques", later generally acknowledged as constituting torture, in the U.S. government's post-9/11 "War on Terror". Gonzales had also presided over the firings of several U.S. Attorneys who had refused back-channel White House directives to prosecute political enemies, allegedly causing the office of Attorney General to become improperly politicized.[2] Following calls for his removal, Gonzales resigned from the office "in the best interests of the department", on August 27, 2007, effective September 17, 2007.[3][4]

In 2008, Gonzales began a mediation and consulting practice. Additionally, he taught a political science course and served as a diversity recruiter at Texas Tech University. As of 2024, Gonzales is the dean of Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, Tennessee, where he teaches National Security Law. He was formerly Of Counsel at a Nashville-based law firm, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, where he advised clients on special matters, government investigations and regulatory matters.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Alberto Gonzales 2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Shenon, Philip; Johnston, David (August 28, 2007). "A Defender of Bush's Power, Gonzales Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  3. ^ Eggen, Dan; Fletcher, Michael A. (August 27, 2007). "The Gonzales Resignation". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  4. ^ "President Bush Discusses Resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales". whitehouse.gov. August 27, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2018.