golder jr. was sworn in as the 82nd attorney general of the united states on february 3, 2009, by vice president joe biden. president barack obama announced his intention to do this on december 1, 2008. in 1997, mr. holder was named by president clinton to be the deputy attorney general, the first african-american to be appointed to this post. prior to that, he served as u.s. attorney for the district of columbia. in 1988, mr. holder was nominated by president reagan to become an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia. mr. holder, a native of new york city, attended public schools there, graduating from stuyvesant high school, where he earned the regent scholarship. he attended columbia college, where he majored in american history and graduated in 1973. he graduated from columbia law school in 1976. while in law school, he clerked at the naacp department of justice criminal defense. upon graduating, he moved to washington and joined the department of justice as part o