William Pelham Barr, born May 23, 1950, in New York City, is an American lawyer and government official who served twice as U.S. Attorney General—the 77th from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush and the 85th from 2019 to 2020 under President Donald Trump—making him the second person in U.S. history to hold the position twice.[1][2][3] Barr earned an A.B. in government from Columbia University in 1971 and an M.A. in government and J.D. from the same institution. Early in his career, he worked on the Domestic Policy Council during President Ronald Reagan's first term (1982–1983) and became a law firm partner by 1985. Joining the Justice Department in 1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel (1989–1990), Deputy Attorney General (1990–1991), and then Attorney General.[1][2][6] As Attorney General in the early 1990s, Barr advanced law enforcement priorities, including responses to the Savings & Loan crisis, the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing investigation, the Talladega prison hostage crisis resolution, and counter-terrorism during the First Gulf War. He established policies on financial institutions, civil rights, and antitrust, and authored "The Case for More Incarceration" advocating tougher criminal justice measures.[1][4][5] After government service, Barr was Executive Vice President and General Counsel at GTE (1994–2000) and Verizon (2000–2008), then advised corporations on enforcement and litigation, including as Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis (2009 and 2017).[1][3] Nominated by Trump in December 2018 and confirmed in February 2019, Barr's second term involved overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report, intervening in cases like those of Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, and addressing national security issues such as Chinese espionage via CFIUS and Team Telecom.[2][3][4][5] He resigned in December 2020. Since then, Barr has maintained a low public profile, with no major recent events noted as of early 2026.[1][4] (Word count: 298)