John Ashcroft Pics

John

Ashcroft

09 May 1942

72

Average

Brown - Dark

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Taurus

White

Christian

United States Attorney General

Male

American

John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American politician who was the 79th United States Attorney General. He served during the first term of President George W. Bush from 2001 until 2005. Ashcroft was previously the Governor of Missouri (1985–1993) and a U.S. Senator from Missouri (1995–2001). Ashcroft was born in Chicago, Illinois, to James Robert Ashcroft and Grace P. Larsen. His father was a minister in an Assemblies of God congregation, and served as the President of Evangel University from 1958–1974, and jointly as President of Central Bible College from 1958–1963. He later on served as President of Valley Forge Christian College. His mother was a housewife whose parents had immigrated to the United States from Norway. Ashcroft went to school in Springfield, Missouri. He attended Yale University, where he was a member of the Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, graduating in 1964. He received a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago in 1967. After law school, Ashcroft briefly taught business law and worked as an administrator at Southwest Missouri State University. In 1976 Danforth was elected to the United States Senate, and Ashcroft was elected to replace him as attorney general. Ashcroft was re-elected in 1980. Governor Ashcroft was elected governor in 1984 and re-elected in 1988, becoming the first (and, to date, the only) Republican elected to consecutive terms in Missouri history. In December 2000, following his Senatorial defeat, Ashcroft was chosen for the position of U.S. Attorney General by president-elect George W. Bush. Ashcroft was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 58-42, with most Democratic Senators voting against him, alleging previous opposition to desegregation and legal abortion. Former Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton commented on Ashcroft`s nomination: "John Danforth would have been my first choice. John Ashcroft would have been my last choice." After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Ashcroft was a key supporter of passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. One of the provisions in that act was the controversial Section 215, which allows the FBI to make an application for an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court requiring production of "any tangible thing" for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. Ashcroft referred to American Library Association opposition to Section 215 as "hysteria" in two separate speeches given in September, 2003. While Attorney General, Ashcroft consistently denied that the FBI or any other law enforcement agency had used the Patriot Act to obtain library circulation records or those of retail sales. On November 9, 2004, following George W. Bush`s re-election, Ashcroft announced his resignation, which took effect on February 3, 2005 when the Senate confirmation of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as the next Attorney General. Some believe his health was a factor in his decision. His hand-written resignation letter, dated November 2, stated: "The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." Ashcroft, a fervent lifelong member of the Assemblies of God church, helped bring the denomination more mainstream recognition in his book Lessons From a Father to His Son (1998).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ashcroft

John David Ashcroft

John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is a United States politician who was the 79th United States attorney general. He served during the first term of President George W. Bush from 2001 until 2005. Ashcroft was previously the 50th Governor of Missouri (1985–1993) and a US senator from Missouri (1995–2001).

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