United States Deputy Attorney General facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United States Deputy Attorney General
Seal of the Department of Justice
Incumbent Emil Bove since January 20, 2025
United States Department of Justice
Style	Madam. Deputy Attorney General
Reports to	United States Attorney General
Seat	Department of Justice Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Formation	May 24, 1950
First holder	Peyton Ford
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level II

The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the absence of the attorney general.

The deputy attorney general is a political appointee of the president of the United States and takes office after confirmation by the United States Senate. The position was created in 1950.

List of United States deputy attorneys general

#	Image	Name	Term began	Term ended	President(s) served under
1		Peyton Ford	May 24, 1950	1951	Harry S. Truman
2		A. Devitt Vanech	1951	1952
3		Ross L. Malone	1952	January 20, 1953
4		William P. Rogers	January 20, 1953	October 23, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
5		Lawrence Walsh	December 29, 1957	January 20, 1961
6		Byron White	January 20, 1961	April 16, 1962	John F. Kennedy
7		Nicholas Katzenbach	April 16, 1962	January 28, 1965
					John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
8		Ramsey Clark	January 28, 1965	March 10, 1967	Lyndon B. Johnson
9		Warren Christopher	March 10, 1967	January 20, 1969
10		Richard Kleindienst	January 20, 1969	June 12, 1972	Richard Nixon
11		Ralph E. Erickson	1972	1973
12		Joseph Sneed	February 1973	July 9, 1973
13		William Ruckelshaus	July 9, 1973	October 20, 1973
14		Laurence Silberman	January 20, 1974	April 6, 1975	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
15		Harold R. Tyler, Jr.	April 6, 1975	January 20, 1977	Gerald Ford
16		Peter F. Flaherty	April 12, 1977	December 9, 1977	Jimmy Carter
17		Benjamin Civiletti	May 16, 1978	August 16, 1979
Acting		Charles Ruff	August 16, 1979	February 27, 1980
18		Charles Byron Renfrew	February 27, 1980	January 20, 1981
19		Edward C. Schmults	1981	February 3, 1984	Ronald Reagan
20		Carol E. Dinkins	May 23, 1984	1985
21		D. Lowell Jensen	1985	June 25, 1986
22		Arnold Burns	July 1986	July 1988
23		Harold G. Christensen	July 1988	May 22, 1989
24		Donald B. Ayer	November 1989	May 11, 1990	George H. W. Bush
25		William P. Barr	May 26, 1990	November 26, 1991
26		George Terwilliger	November 26, 1991	January 20, 1993
27		Philip Heymann	May 28, 1993	March 17, 1994	Bill Clinton
28		Jamie Gorelick	March 17, 1994	May 1997
29		Eric Holder	June 13, 1997	January 20, 2001
Acting		Robert Mueller	January 20, 2001	May 10, 2001	George W. Bush
30		Larry Thompson	May 10, 2001	August 31, 2003
31		James Comey	November 9, 2003	August 15, 2005
Acting		Robert McCallum, Jr.	August 15, 2005	March 17, 2006
32		Paul McNulty	March 17, 2006	July 26, 2007
Acting		Craig S. Morford	July 26, 2007	March 10, 2008
33		Mark Filip	March 10, 2008	January 20, 2009
34		David W. Ogden	March 12, 2009	February 5, 2010	Barack Obama
Acting		Gary Grindler	February 5, 2010	December 29, 2010
35		James M. Cole	December 29, 2010	January 8, 2015
36		Sally Yates	January 10, 2015	January 30, 2017
					Barack Obama Donald Trump
Acting		Dana Boente	February 9, 2017	April 25, 2017	Donald Trump
37		Rod Rosenstein	April 26, 2017	May 11, 2019
Acting		Ed O'Callaghan	May 13, 2019	May 22, 2019
38		Jeffrey A. Rosen	May 22, 2019	December 23, 2020
Acting		Richard Donoghue	December 24, 2020	January 20, 2021
Acting		John P. Carlin	January 21, 2021	April 21, 2021	Joe Biden
39		Lisa Monaco	April 21, 2021	January 20, 2025
Acting		Emil Bove	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	Donald Trump