Alberto Gonzales

Alberto Reynaldo Gonzales born August 4 1955 is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States attorney general from 2005 to 2007 He was the highestranking Hispanic American in the executive government in American history until the appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State in 2025 He previously served as Secretary of State of Texas as a Texas Supreme Court Justice and as White House Counsel becoming the first Hispanic to hold that office Gonzaless tenure as US Attorney General was marked by controversy regarding warrantless surveillance of US citizens and the legal authorization of enhanced interrogation techniques later generally acknowledged as constituting torture in the US governments post911 war on terror Gonzales had also presided over the controversial firings of several US Attorneys resulting in allegations that the office of Attorney General was becoming improperly politicized Following calls for his removal Gonzales resigned from the office in the best interests of the department on August 27 2007 effective September 17 2007 In 2008 Gonzales began a mediation and consulting practice Additionally he taught a political science course and served as a diversity recruiter at Texas Tech University As of 2024 Gonzales is the dean of Belmont University College of Law in Nashville Tennessee where he teaches National Security Law He was formerly Of Counsel at a Nashvillebased law firm Waller Lansden Dortch Davis LLP where he advised clients on special matters government investigations and regulatory matters Description above from the Wikipedia article Alberto Gonzales licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia