Retired federal judge Michael Mukasey, President Bush's choice for attorney general, replacing Alberto Gonzales.
Compiled by the U.S. News & World Report Library Staff.
1. Born in 1941, Michael Mukasey grew up in the Bronx.
2. Mukasey graduated from Columbia University in 1963 and Yale Law School in 1967.
3. While in college, Mukasey tried out a different career: He worked one summer as a reporter for United Press International.
4. Early in his career, Mukasey became friends with another young attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Mukasey once played a practical joke on Giuliani, sending him a letter describing him as "completely unqualified" for a job at his firm.
5. Mukasey was an assistant U.S. attorney and head of the official corruption unit when Giuliani was U.S. attorney in New York. To prepare for trials, Giuliani practiced his cross-examinations on Mukasey, who would portray the witness.
6. Mukasey has moved between public and private practice throughout his career. After more than a decade with the New York firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, he returned to federal service in 1987 when Ronald Reagan nominated him for a judgeship in the Southern District of New York. Mukasey was chief judge of the district for six years.
7. When Giuliani was elected mayor of New York in 1993 and 1997, Judge Mukasey presided at his friend's swearing-in. In fact, one of the ceremonies was held at Mukasey's own Manhattan apartment.
8. During his tenure in the Southern District, Mukasey presided over a number of important terrorism-related cases, including the 1996 conviction of Omar Abdel Rahman and the initial 2003 proceedings against Jose Padilla. These high-profile cases brought increased security. At one point, Mukasey received round-the-clock security from U.S. marshals.
9. Mukasey retired from the federal bench in September 2006 to return to his partnership at Patterson Belknap. He and his son, attorney Marc Mukasey, also serve on the Giuliani campaign's Justice Advisory Committee, which advises the candidate on legal issues.
10. Although a conservative, Mukasey has supporters on the Democratic side. In 2003, Sen. Chuck Schumer recommended Mukasey as a candidate for a Supreme Court appointment. In 2005, the liberal group Alliance for Justice suggested that he would have bipartisan support for such a position.
Sources:
Associated Press
Federal Judicial Center
Join Rudy 2008
Los Angeles Times
Newsday
New York Sun
New York Times
Patterson Bellknap Webb & Tyler
