Will Eric Holder Become the Next Attorney General?

Former deputy attorney general Eric Holder, the co-chair of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, is considered a likely candidate for attorney general if his candidate wins the presidency. But would he take the job?

Holder, a partner at Covington & Burling, appears reluctant to take it on, the American Lawyer reports in a profile. In a radio talk show interview, Holder fielded a question about whether he will become the first black attorney general in an Obama administration. He answered this way:

"I got to tell you, that's going to be up to the president," he said. "And I will not be the president. I will also tell you that I am married to a wonderful woman who is a doctor. Her name is Sharon Malone. And Sharon Malone tells me that I won't be going anywhere except back to my law firm. So I think President Obama is going to have to talk to Sharon, and she's a pretty formidable person."

The American Lawyer takes that answer with a grain of salt. “The henpecked-husband routine shouldn't fool anyone,” the story says. “If President Obama asks his campaign co-chair to become the first African American attorney general of the United States, count on history to win out.”