Michael Mukasey

Michael Mukasey
Mukasey in 2014
81st United States Attorney General
In office
November 9, 2007 – January 20, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byAlberto Gonzales
Succeeded byEric Holder
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office
August 1, 2006 – September 9, 2006
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office
March 12, 2000 – August 1, 2006
Preceded byThomas P. Griesa
Succeeded byKimba Wood
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office
November 9, 1987 – August 1, 2006
Appointed byRonald Reagan
Preceded byAbraham David Sofaer
Succeeded byRichard J. Sullivan
Personal details
Born
Michael Bernard Mukasey

(1941-07-28) July 28, 1941 (age 83)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSusan Mukasey
Children2
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Yale University (LLB)

Michael Bernard Mukasey[1] (/mjuːˈkzi/; born July 28, 1941)[2] is an American lawyer and jurist who served as the 81st Attorney General of the United States from 2007 to 2009 and as a U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1987 to 2006.

Mukasey graduated from Columbia University with a degree in history and received a Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School.[3] He worked in private practice for two decades and spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Mukasey to a judgeship on the Southern District of New York. He became the Chief Judge in 2000 and served until his retirement in 2006.

Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush following the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. Mukasey was the second Jewish U.S. Attorney General.[4] Mukasey left office after Bush's term as president ended. He is currently of counsel at the international law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.[5] Mukasey, pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), is registered as working on behalf of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.[6]

  1. ^ Shenon, Philip; Benjamin Weiser (September 18, 2007). "A Washington Outsider With Many Sides". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  2. ^ Leinwand, Donna; Kevin Johnson (September 17, 2007). "Mukasey is outsider with inside track". USA Today. Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  3. ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  4. ^ "Orthodox Jew tapped to replace Gonzalez". JTA. September 17, 2007. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. The first Jewish Attorney General was Edward H. Levi. Judah Benjamin served as Attorney General of the Confederate States of America.
  5. ^ "Michael B. Mukasey". Debevoise & Plimpton. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  6. ^ Mukasey, Michael (September 26, 2019). "Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)" (PDF). Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.