Attorney General's Remarks, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, November 15, 1992

While the modem Attorney General is active in a broad array of policy decisions and legal matters, this evening we are concerned only with what was once the core of the Attorney General's duties: legal interpretation within the executive branch. First, I would like to trace the evolution of the office of Attorney General from part-time legal advisor for the new government to head of a major department involved in making policy across a broad range of subjects. Second, I want to discuss the Attorney General's role in interpreting the law, both in rendering legal advice to the executive branch and in determining its litigating positions. In doing so, I will discuss the alleged tension between the Attorney General's roles as a legal advisor and as a policy subordinate of the President.