William P. Barr

William Pelham Barr ( * May 23, 1950 in New York City ) is an American politician ( Republican) and former Minister of Justice ( Attorney General ).

Study and career

Barr graduated from studies of Administrative Sciences and the Chinese studies, graduating in 1971 with a bachelor's degree and in 1973 with a Master's from Columbia University. He then graduated in law at the George Washington University Law School, which he finished with a Juris Doctor ( JD) summa cum laude in 1977.

Already during his studies he was from 1973 to 1977 employees of the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA). Subsequently, he was a civil servant of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He then worked as a lawyer in Washington. After working in the domestic staff of the White House during the reign of Ronald Reagan in 1982 to 1983, he worked for several years as an attorney in a large law firm in Washington, DC active.

Minister of Justice under President Bush and later offices

Barr began his career in the Ministry of Justice in 1989 as assistant to the Attorney General and head of the office for legal advice. He was then Deputy Attorney General in May 1990 ( Deputy Attorney General ). This office he held until his appointment as Acting Attorney General in August 1991.

On 26 November 1991, President George Bush appointed him to succeed Dick Thornburgh to the Minister of Justice ( Attorney General ). Barr was one of the cabinet until the end of Bush's term of office on 20 January 1993.

After retiring from politics, he was once again working as a lawyer and also a board member of several public companies. Barr was also from 2001 to July 2005 Member of the supervisory board of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg ( Virginia). Since 2004 he has been Vice President and General Counsel of the U.S. telecommunications company Verizon Communications.