March 27, 2009
By Julia Parmley

Eric Holder Installed as 82nd U.S. Attorney General at GW

President Barack Obama, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Ethel Kennedy, wife of former Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, were among the capacity crowd at GW's Lisner Auditorium for the March 27 installation ceremony of Eric H. Holder Jr. as the nation's 82nd attorney general. View Photo Gallery

Obama called Holder the perfect choice to protect the security and rights of all Americans. "I sought to appoint an attorney general who understands that justice ... is about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their own homes and welcome in their own nation," said Obama. "I sought someone who recognizes the very real threats we faced but has the wisdom in those hard-to-call cases to find that fine balance between ensuring our security and preserving our liberty. Most of all, I was looking for someone who believes deeply enough in the American people's cause to serve as the American people's lawyer ... I think that's a pretty good description of our new attorney general."
View GWTV's Live Coverage of the Event

In his remarks, Holder called his appointment "the highest honor of my life and career" and pledged to lead the Justice Department in accordance with the principles of the U.S. Constitution. "This is our time," said Holder. "When American generations look back now on the work that we will do, let us strive to ensure that they will say that we kept the faith and that we made a superb Justice Department even greater."

Holder received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from GW in 1998, was a GW trustee from 1996 to 1997, and served as a member of the GW Homeland Security Policy Institute Steering Committee.