Justice Department

John Ashcroft
Attorney General
202-514-2001
None of President Bush's nominations has provoked more controversy than his choice of former Sen. Ashcroft of Missouri to be Attorney General. Blasted for what critics see as his smear campaign against the confirmation of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White, an African-American, to be a federal district judge, as well as for his hostility toward abortion rights and for his opposition to desegregation plans in St. Louis and Kansas City in the 1980s, Ashcroft was confirmed by only a 58-42 vote. The 59-year-old Springfield native was Missouri's attorney general from 1976-84 and was governor for two terms before his election to the Senate in 1994. Ashcroft's far-right views were reflected in his voting record in 1997 and 1998, when he was tied as the most conservative Senator in National Journal's rankings. He lost his re-election bid against Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan, whose name remained on the ballot even after his death in an airplane crash. Early on as Attorney General, Ashcroft surprised some critics by naming minorities to several high-level Justice posts, advocating legislation against racial profiling, and dispatching attorneys to Cincinnati to investigate white-on-black police shootings. "There's no question that Ashcroft has not moved as far to the right and as fast as many people feared," said Elliot Mincberg, legal director of the liberal People for the American Way. Ashcroft, who is a graduate of Yale University and of the University of Chicago Law School, will have plenty of opportunity in the days ahead to show his hand more clearly on hot-button issues from affirmative action to abortion. He will likely find that the attorney general's post continues to be a lightning rod for controversy.

Larry D. Thompson
Deputy Attorney General
202-514-2101
Thompson may bring new clout to the No. 2 post because, unlike Ashcroft, he has plenty of trial experience. He'll undoubtedly be called upon to advise on litigation strategy in sensitive cases. A partner in the Atlanta law firm of King & Spaulding, the 55-year-old Thompson is no stranger to highly visible litigation, having served as U.S. Attorney in Atlanta from 1982-86. During his confirmation hearing, Thompson, an African-American, was warmly praised. He told the Senate panel that growing up as the son of a railroad laborer in Hannibal, Mo., he "could not have imagined 40 years ago" that he would one day appear before the Senate to be confirmed for a top government job. As he takes charge of the daily management of the department's bureaucracy, Thompson is not unfamiliar with Washington's ways. He provided behind-the-scenes advice to Clarence Thomas during the contentious battle over Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court. A graduate of Culver-Stockton College, Thompson received his law degree from the University of Michigan.

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