It's hard not to compare Attorney General Eric Holder to President Barack Obama. Both sons of immigrant fathers, they have pushed on to historic heights. They share Columbia degrees and a passion for social justice.
But when it comes to fulfilling his role as the top law enforcer in the country, Holder is clear: "There has to be a distance between me and the president," he said in his confirmation hearings. "I will be an independent attorney general and the people's lawyer."
Those who know Holder, 58, say they are struck by his dedication. "His commitment goes above and beyond what would be expected," says Ann Walker Marchant, a former special assistant to President Clinton who introduced Holder to Obama in 2004. "It's less about expediency and more about doing what's right." But when Holder issued a controversial "neutral leaning towards favorable" opinion on the pardoning of fugitive financier Marc Rich while deputy attorney general for the Clinton administration, some questioned his commitment to the public good.
Raised in Queens, N.Y., Holder attended Columbia Law School. While there, he volunteered in Harlem and clerked at the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Justice Department. After 25 years in public service, he left to practice privately. But when Obama, with whom Holder says he "just clicked," asked him to formally join his campaign, Holder didn't hesitate.
He is now responsible for a thorny legal agenda that includes the closure of the Guantánamo Bay prison facility. "No one is above the law," Holder said at his confirmation hearing, even the president. That's a mandate he seems committed to enforce.
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