William P. Barr has had a wide-ranging career at senior levels of the corporate and legal world and federal government. He is one of only two people in U.S. history to serve twice as U.S. Attorney General: the 77th Attorney General (1991-1993) under President George H. W. Bush; and the 85th Attorney General (2019-2020) under President Donald Trump.

A native New Yorker, William Barr received his A.B. and M.A. from Columbia University in government and Chinese studies, after which he served in the CIA from 1973 to 1977. He attended law school while working at the CIA, receiving his J.D. with highest honors from George Washington University Law School in 1977.

After clerking for Judge Malcolm Wilkey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Mr. Barr joined the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge as an associate. He left the firm to work in the White House under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1983 on the domestic policy staff, then returned to the law firm and became a partner in 1985.