Attorney General: Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Eric Himpton Holder, Jr., was born on January 21, 1951, in New York City, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from Columbia University in 1973 and his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1976. Holder joined the Department of Justice in September of that same year through the Attorney General’s Honors Program and was assigned to the newly established Public Integrity Section, where he served until 1988 when President Ronald Reagan appointed him an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Holder sat on the bench until 1993, when President William J. Clinton appointed him as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Holder as Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served in that position until 2001, after which he joined Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.
President Barack Obama appointed Holder as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States on February 3, 2009, one day after his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. Holder held that office for over six years, stepping down on April 24, 2015. Upon leaving the Department of Justice, Holder returned to private practice as senior counsel at Covington & Burling.
Simmie Knox was born in Aliceville, Alabama, in 1935 and later graduated from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University with a bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts. Since the 1980s, Knox has specialized in oil portraiture and has painted commissioned portraits of senior officials, dignitaries, athletes, celebrities, educators, and civil and religious leaders. In 2004, Knox unveiled official portraits of President William J. Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House. His portrait of Attorney General Holder was completed in 2015.