Alberto Gonzales



Alberto Gonzales is a former U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush, having succeeded John Ashcroft. Gonzales held the post from 2005 to his resignation in September 2007.

Having served several positions for Bush when Dubya was Governor of Texas, Gonzales became his White House Counsel when he became President. At this position as the President's lawyer, he made sure the White House had the legal right to use torture, calling the Geneva Conventions "quaint". He worked with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Justice Department lawyer John Yoo to implement techniques such as waterboarding and whittling away at the legal barriers to us doing so.

Gonzales even made us feel sorry for John Ashcroft, his predecessor. While the latter was in the hospital, seriously ill, Alberto gave him a visit to try to get him to sign off on a quite possibly illegal wiretapping bill that the Deputy Attorney General who was filling in for Ashcroft refused to approve. Ashcroft pointed out that he wasn't in a position to do so, although when he got out he okayed it anyway. After becoming Attorney General in 2005, Gonzales eventually became embroiled in the scandal that saw eight U.S. attorneys fired and replaced with less-qualified lawyers who were perceived as more loyal to Bush and more willing to prosecute voter fraud claims against Democrats. The new Democratic majority in both Houses and some Republicans insisted that Gonzales step down, and succeeded in forcing him to testify before a committee about the firings. During this testimony, he famously said "I don't recall" over 55 times in the first round of questioning alone. He eventually resigned in disgrace and was replaced by.