Alberto R. Gonzales

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Alberto R. Gonzales

Alberto Recuerdo Gonzales (born August 4, 1955 in San Antonio , Texas ) is an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ). He was Attorney General of the United States from February 3, 2005 to September 17, 2007 .

Life

Gonzales comes from a poor family of Mexican origin and grew up in Houston . He attended Rice University and Harvard Law School and served two years in the US Air Force (1973-1975) and another two years at the US Air Force Academy .

From 1982 to 1994, Gonzales served as a Houston attorney with the Vinson and Elkins law firm , where he later became a partner. He was Secretary of State of Texas from 1997 and then from 1999 a judge at the Supreme Court of Texas . He has been a friend of George W. Bush since they were in Texas together . He also became his legal adviser in the White House ( White House Counsel ).

United States Attorney General

Bush proposed Gonzales as attorney general on November 10, 2004.

At the January 6, 2005 Senate hearing, opponents of the nomination placed particular emphasis on the role Gonzales played in assessing the Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the concept of torture in the context of the establishment of detention centers in Guantánamo Bay . Gonzales was considered one of the architects of the controversial prison policy in the "fight against terror". In a memorandum in January 2002, he spoke out against the application of the Geneva Convention to captured Taliban and al-Qaida fighters; Gonzales called the convention outdated (“quaint”, “obsolete”) and shifted the meaning of the term “enemy combatant” , who was not to be treated as a prisoner of war, to a disenfranchisement that clearly bears the characteristics of enemy criminal law . Gonzales had emphasized in his analysis that the war opponents in Afghanistan and Iraq - unlike in previous military conflicts - are trained in combat engineering and tactics and operate in military units and with military equipment, but at the same time refuse to accept the civilizational principles of Western warfare: like killing For example, the Taliban usually immediately prisoners of war, did not fight in a clearly recognizable uniform with rank and troop badges and disregarded the inviolability of emissaries (“white flag”) and non-combatants (Red Cross, Red Crescent), civilians and the wounded. Since this war opponent did not even begin to obey agreements such as the Geneva Convention or the Hague Land Warfare Regulations - not least because of ignorance of these regulations - it was pointless, according to Gonzales, in some cases even practically impossible to treat such a war opponent according to these usual rules: the mandatory naming of names, rank and troop units to the ICRC, for example, could not be realized in this way. Instead, there should be an analogous application of the protective provisions according to which the respective prisoner is to be treated.

Supporters of Gonzales' nomination praised the fact that his biography realizes the American ideal of ascent “from rags to riches”, that is, from poor backgrounds to the very top of power. Another factor that spoke for Gonzales was the fact that he would be the first time a Latino would hold such a high position, a representative of a growing group of voters. Gonzales himself promised in the Senate hearing to refrain from torture in the broader sense in future and to adhere to national and international laws.

On February 3, 2005 he was confirmed and sworn in by the US Senate as Attorney General of the USA. This is the highest office in US politics that a Latino has ever achieved. The nomination was overshadowed by allegations (see below). Gonzales was considered more moderate than his predecessor John Ashcroft and as a possible candidate for Bush’s judge in the Supreme Court.

Resignation in August 2007

Senators and Democratic MPs called for Gonzales' resignation in the summer of 2007. He had to admit that he was more involved than initially admitted in the controversial mass dismissals of federal prosecutors by the Ministry of Justice and “that there was definitely a political component”. On August 27, Gonzales announced his resignation from the post of Attorney General effective September 17, 2007.

During the summer of 2007, George W. Bush's closest adviser Karl Rove and President Tony Snow, among others, withdrew from the White House. While Snow's health or (as he himself explained) financial reasons are likely to have tipped the balance, Rove's withdrawal also focused on his involvement in the scandal surrounding the dismissal of the United States Attorneys .

The departure of numerous Bush administration employees in the summer of 2007 was interpreted by observers as, among other things, an indication of the failure of an entire political concept (cf. neoconservatism , Bush doctrine ), which, however, would have consequences: “Gonzales' sad legacy is already in stone chiseled, an administration that was a tragedy for America, and which - however amusing its nickname may be - is no reason to laugh, ”said Michael Tomasky in the London Guardian .

Familiar

Gonzales and his wife have three sons.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Spiegel.de: Mass dismissals of federal prosecutors - Bush prevents hearing of his ex-advisor , August 2, 2007, Weblink
  2. ↑ New York Times: Embattled Attorney General Resigns , August 27, 2007 Weblink
  3. ↑ Bernd Pickert: Bush's Crumbling Gang (TAZ, August 28, 2007)
  4. ↑ Michael Tomasky: Sinking ship leaves rat ( Memento of May 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) ("The Guardian", August 28, 2007)

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Gonzales, Alberto R.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gonzales, Alberto Recuerdo (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician (Republican Party)
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH San Antonio , Texas