Eric Holder
Eric Holder
82nd United States Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 3, 2009[1]
President
Barack Obama
Preceded by
Michael Mukasey
United States Attorney General
Acting
In office
January 20, 2001 – February 2, 2001
President
George W. Bush
Preceded by
Janet Reno
Succeeded by
John Ashcroft
Deputy Attorney General of the United
States
In office
1997 – 2001
President
Bill Clinton
Preceded by
Jamie Gorelick
Succeeded by
Larry Thompson
Born
January 21, 1951
(1951-01-21)
The Bronx, New York, United
States
Political party Democratic
Spouse
Sharon Malone
Children
(3)
Alma mater
Stuyvesant High School
Columbia University
Columbia Law School
Profession
Attorney at law
Religion
Episcopalian
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. (born January 21,
1951) is the 82nd and current Attorney Gen-
eral of the United States and the first
African-American to hold the position.[2] He
is serving under President Barack Obama.
Holder previously served as a judge of the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia,
United States Attorney, and Deputy Attorney
General of the United States, and as a senior
legal advisor to then-Senator Barack Obama
during Obama’s presidential campaign. He
was one of three members of Obama’s vice-
presidential selection committee.
Biography
Early life
Eric H. Holder, Jr. was born in the The Bronx
borough of New York City,[3] to parents with
roots in Barbados;[4][5] Holder’s father, Eric
Himpton Holder, Sr. (1905–1970)[6] was born
in Saint Joseph, Barbados, arrived in the Un-
ited States at the age of 11.[7] He later be-
came a real estate broker. His mother, Miri-
am, was born in New Jersey, while his mater-
nal grandparents were
immigrants
from
Saint Philip, Barbados.[7] Holder grew up in
East Elmhurst, Queens, and attended public
school until the age of 10. When entering the
4th grade he was selected to participate in a
program for intellectually-gifted students.[8]
He went on to attend Stuyvesant High School
in Manhattan[9] and attended Columbia
University, where he played freshman bas-
ketball an