William Barr

William Barr
Official portrait, 2019
William Barr
Born	William Pelham Barr 23 5, 1950
Birthplace	New York City, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Attorney, government official
Known for	Serving as 77th and 85th United States Attorney General
Education	George Washington University (JD)
Children	3
Awards	Edmund J. Randolph Award

William Pelham Barr (born May 23, 1950) is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Attorney General on two separate occasions — first under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993, and again under President Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020. He is only the second person in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in the office, after John J. Crittenden in the nineteenth century. Born and raised in New York City, Barr spent decades at the intersection of law, intelligence, and executive power, beginning his career at the Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1970s before rising through the ranks of the Department of Justice during the George H. W. Bush administration. A longtime proponent of the unitary executive theory, which holds that the president possesses broad authority over the executive branch, Barr has been a central figure in debates over presidential power, criminal justice policy, and the independence of federal law enforcement. Between his two tenures as attorney general, Barr worked as a corporate lawyer and executive at GTE and its successor Verizon Communications, and later served on the board of directors of Time Warner.

Early Life

William Pelham Barr was born on May 23, 1950, in New York City. His father, Donald Barr, was a prominent educator who served as headmaster of the Dalton School, a private school on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and was also known as a science educator and author. His brother, Stephen Barr, became a physicist. Barr grew up in New York City and attended the Horace Mann School, a prestigious preparatory school in the Bronx.

Details about Barr's upbringing reflect a family embedded in intellectual and educational circles in New York. Donald Barr had served as a member of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II before transitioning into education, where he built a reputation as an influential headmaster. The elder Barr's career at the Dalton School and later at other institutions provided the backdrop for William Barr's formative years in one of the nation's most intellectually competitive environments.

Education

Barr pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies at Columbia University in New York City, where he earned both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree. He subsequently attended George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he obtained his Juris Doctor degree. His educational trajectory — from the Horace Mann School through Columbia and on to George Washington University — positioned him within elite academic circles and provided the foundation for his career in law and government.

Career

Central Intelligence Agency and Early Legal Career

From 1971 to 1977, Barr was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, where he worked during a formative period in his professional life. The specifics of his work at the agency remain largely undisclosed, consistent with the classified nature of intelligence operations. After leaving the CIA, Barr served as a law clerk to Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, one of the nation's most influential appellate courts.

Following his clerkship, Barr entered private legal practice in the 1980s, working for the law firm Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman). During this period, he also spent approximately one year working in the White House during the Ronald Reagan administration, where he dealt with legal policy matters.

Department of Justice Under George H. W. Bush

Barr's rise within the United States Department of Justice began with the inauguration of President George H. W. Bush in January 1989. He was appointed to lead the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), a powerful unit within the Justice Department responsible for providing legal advice to the president and executive branch agencies.

Head of the Office of Legal Counsel

As head of the OLC from January 1989 to May 1990, Barr played a significant role in shaping the legal justifications for executive action. In 1989, Barr authored the legal opinion that justified the United States invasion of Panama to arrest Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. This opinion, which provided a framework for the use of military force to apprehend foreign leaders, established Barr's reputation as an advocate for expansive presidential authority, particularly in matters of national security and foreign affairs.

His tenure at the OLC also reflected his broader philosophical commitment to the unitary executive theory, which holds that the Constitution grants the president comprehensive control over the executive branch. This legal philosophy would become a defining element of Barr's career across both of his terms as attorney general.

Deputy Attorney General

In May 1990, Barr was elevated to the position of Deputy Attorney General, serving under Attorney General Dick Thornburgh. In this role, he functioned as the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Justice.

One of the most notable episodes during Barr's tenure as deputy attorney general occurred in 1991, when he authorized an FBI tactical operation to resolve a hostage crisis at the federal prison in Talladega, Alabama. Cuban inmates, facing potential deportation, had taken hostages at the facility. Barr authorized the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team to storm the prison, and the operation resulted in the successful rescue of all hostages without loss of life.

First Term as Attorney General (1991–1993)

When Attorney General Thornburgh departed to run for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, Barr was named acting attorney general on August 16, 1991. President Bush subsequently nominated him for the position on a permanent basis, and Barr was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 26, 1991, becoming the 77th Attorney General of the United States.

As attorney general, Barr pursued an aggressive approach to criminal justice policy. In 1992, he authored a notable Department of Justice report titled The Case for More Incarceration, in which he argued that increasing the United States incarceration rate was necessary to reduce crime. The report advocated for longer prison sentences and was influential in shaping federal criminal justice policy during the early 1990s, a period characterized by rising public concern about crime rates.

Near the end of the Bush administration, Barr played a significant advisory role in one of the most controversial exercises of presidential pardon power in modern American history. Under Barr's advice, President Bush in December 1992 pardoned six officials involved in the Iran–Contra affair, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. The pardons drew criticism from the independent counsel investigating the matter, Lawrence Walsh, who suggested that the pardons were intended to prevent further scrutiny of the affair. Barr defended the pardons as appropriate exercises of executive authority.

Barr served as attorney general until the end of the Bush administration on January 20, 1993, and was succeeded by Janet Reno under President Bill Clinton.

Corporate Career (1994–2018)

After leaving government service, Barr transitioned to the private sector. From 1994 to 2008, he served as executive vice president and general counsel of GTE Corporation, a major telecommunications company. When GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form Verizon Communications, Barr continued in a corporate legal role at the combined entity.

From 2009 to 2018, Barr served on the board of directors of Time Warner, the media and entertainment conglomerate. During his years in the private sector, Barr remained active in legal and policy circles, writing and speaking on issues related to executive power, criminal justice, and the role of the attorney general.

Second Term as Attorney General (2019–2020)

On December 7, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Barr to serve as attorney general for a second time, following the forced resignation of Jeff Sessions. Barr was confirmed by the Senate on February 14, 2019, and was sworn in as the 85th Attorney General of the United States. His second term in office proved to be among the most contentious tenures of any attorney general in recent American history.

The Mueller Report

One of Barr's first major actions as attorney general was his handling of the report produced by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who had been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential obstruction of justice by President Trump. On March 24, 2019, before the full report was released, Barr sent a four-page letter to Congress summarizing what he characterized as the principal conclusions of the Mueller investigation.

Barr's summary stated that the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. On the question of obstruction of justice, Barr noted that Mueller had not reached a conclusion but stated that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had determined the evidence was insufficient to establish that Trump had committed obstruction. This handling drew significant criticism from legal analysts and Democratic lawmakers, who accused Barr of presenting the findings in a manner favorable to the president. Mueller himself subsequently wrote to Barr stating that the summary letter "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance" of the report's conclusions.

Interventions in Cases of Trump Associates

Barr faced further controversy over his interventions in the criminal cases of two former advisors to President Trump: Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.

In the case of Roger Stone, who had been convicted of seven felony counts including lying to Congress and witness tampering, career prosecutors recommended a sentence of seven to nine years in prison. After President Trump publicly criticized this recommendation on social media, the Department of Justice under Barr's leadership intervened to recommend a lighter sentence. The four career prosecutors who had handled the case withdrew in protest, and one resigned from the department entirely.

In the case of Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, the Department of Justice under Barr moved to drop the prosecution entirely, an unusual step given that Flynn had already entered a guilty plea. These interventions prompted accusations that Barr was using his position to protect political allies of the president.

Resumption of Federal Executions

In July 2019, Barr ordered the federal government to resume carrying out federal executions after a 17-year moratorium. The Department of Justice scheduled executions of inmates convicted of particularly violent federal crimes. The decision was met with criticism from opponents of the death penalty and legal challenges from defense attorneys. Under Barr's tenure, the federal government executed 13 inmates, more federal executions than in any single year since the federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988.

Lafayette Square Incident

On June 1, 2020, amid nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd, Barr personally ordered the removal of protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House. Federal law enforcement officers, including officers from the United States Park Police and other agencies, used chemical irritants and physical force to disperse a largely peaceful crowd from the square. The clearance occurred shortly before President Trump walked through the area to pose for photographs in front of St. John's Church while holding a Bible. The incident generated widespread criticism and became one of the most scrutinized events of Barr's second term.

Geoffrey Berman and the Halkbank Case

In June 2020, the Department of Justice attempted to remove Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, from his position. Berman initially refused to step down, and the episode became a public confrontation between the attorney general and one of the nation's most prominent federal prosecutors. The Southern District was at the time handling several politically sensitive cases, including the prosecution of Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank that had been indicted on charges related to a scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Halkbank case had drawn attention because of the bank's close ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and President Trump had reportedly expressed interest in the matter to Erdoğan. The removal of Berman raised questions about potential political interference in ongoing investigations.

2020 Election and Departure

Following the 2020 presidential election, President Trump made repeated and unsubstantiated claims that widespread fraud had affected the outcome. On December 1, 2020, Barr publicly contradicted the president, telling the Associated Press that the FBI and Department of Justice had investigated allegations of election irregularities and "to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."

This statement represented a significant break with the president and drew praise from some legal observers who viewed it as a defense of institutional integrity, while it angered Trump and many of his supporters. Barr subsequently submitted his resignation on December 14, 2020, effective December 23, 2020.

After leaving office, Barr provided testimony to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, where he described Trump's claims of a stolen election as "bullshit" and stated that he had told the president directly that the allegations were without merit.

Personal Life

William Barr has three children. He has maintained a relatively private personal life throughout his career, consistent with the norms of senior legal and government officials. Barr is a member of the Republican Party.

Barr's father, Donald Barr, died on February 5, 2004, at the age of 82. The elder Barr was remembered for his contributions to education, particularly as headmaster of the Dalton School and as a proponent of science education. William Barr's brother, Stephen Barr, pursued an academic career in physics.

Recognition

Barr's career in government and law has been the subject of extensive analysis and commentary. His two terms as attorney general — separated by more than a quarter-century — placed him in a unique position in the history of the Department of Justice. He is one of only two individuals to have served non-consecutive terms as attorney general, the other being John J. Crittenden, who served under Presidents William Henry Harrison and Millard Fillmore in the 1840s and 1850s.

Barr's first term was noted for his work on criminal justice policy, including his influential report advocating for increased incarceration, and his role in advising President Bush on the Iran–Contra pardons. His second term attracted far greater public attention and controversy, with his actions relating to the Mueller report, interventions in politically sensitive cases, the resumption of federal executions, and his handling of the Lafayette Square incident all generating sustained media coverage and public debate.

Legacy

William Barr's legacy is defined in significant part by his sustained advocacy for expansive presidential authority over the executive branch. Across four decades in public life, from his early work at the Office of Legal Counsel through his second term as attorney general, Barr consistently articulated a vision of the presidency with broad, largely unchecked power over executive functions, including law enforcement and national security.

His first term as attorney general, under George H. W. Bush, established his reputation as a law-and-order conservative who favored aggressive criminal justice policies. The report The Case for More Incarceration became an influential document in the policy debates that led to the significant expansion of the federal and state prison populations during the 1990s.

His second term, under Donald Trump, proved far more polarizing. Supporters credited Barr with restoring order and direction to a Department of Justice they viewed as having been undermined by internal leaks and a politicized investigation of the president. Detractors accused him of subordinating the independence of the Justice Department to the political interests of the president, particularly in his handling of the Mueller report and his interventions in the cases of Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.

His December 2020 statement that there was no evidence of election fraud sufficient to change the outcome of the presidential election, and his subsequent testimony before the January 6 Committee, positioned him as a figure who, in the final weeks of the Trump administration, broke publicly with the president on one of the most consequential political disputes of the era. This act placed Barr in a complex historical position: both a forceful advocate for presidential power and an official who, in his final act as attorney general, set a public limit on his willingness to support the president's claims.