Gonzales << guhn ZAH lihs >> , Alberto R. (1955-…), served as the United States attorney general from 2005 to 2007 under President George W. Bush. Gonzales was the first Hispanic American to hold the office. He resigned in September 2007 amid criticism over his leadership of the U.S. Department of Justice.
As attorney general, Gonzales drew controversy over the Bush administration’s use of wiretaps to spy on U.S. citizens without a court warrant. Opponents also accused Gonzales of firing several U.S. attorneys for political reasons, but he denied that the firings were political.
Gonzales was born on Aug. 4, 1955, in San Antonio. His parents were Mexican immigrants. Gonzales served in the U.S. Air Force from 1973 to 1975 and studied at the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1975 to 1977. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice University in 1979 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1982. After graduation, he joined a law firm in Houston.
Gonzales remained with the Houston firm, specializing in corporate law, until 1995. That year, Bush, then governor of Texas, selected Gonzales to be his general counsel—that is, chief legal adviser. Gonzales served in that position until 1997, when he became Texas’s secretary of state. In 1999, Bush appointed Gonzales to the Texas Supreme Court. In 2001, after Bush had been elected president of the United States, Gonzales left the court to become counsel to the president. He remained in that position until Bush named him to the Cabinet in 2005. Following his resignation as attorney general in 2007, Gonzales worked as a consultant and public speaker. In 2009, Texas Tech University hired Gonzales as a recruiter and instructor.
