Deputy Attorney General: Benjamin R. Civiletti

Benjamin R. Civiletti was the 17th Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served as the Department’s second-ranking official from May 1978 until August 1979, when he was appointed the 73rd Attorney General of the United States.

President Jimmy Carter nominated Mr. Civiletti for the position of Deputy Attorney General in December 1977. At the time of his nomination, Mr. Civiletti was Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, an appointment he had attained in March 1977.

Mr. Civiletti practiced law privately in Baltimore from 1964 until 1977. Prior to entering private practice, he was Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland (1962 to 1964).

A native of Peekskill, New York, Mr. Civiletti graduated from Johns Hopkins University (A.B., 1957) and the University of Maryland School of Law (LL.B., 1961). Upon completing law school, he clerked for Judge W. Calvin Chesnut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.