Net Worth: | $50 Million |
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Date of Birth: | May 23, 1950 (74 years old) |
Gender: | Male |
Profession: | American Attorney |
Nationality: | United States of America |
What is William Barr’s Net Worth?
William Barr is an American Attorney and government official who has a net worth of $50 million. During the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump, he served as the 77th and 85th Attorney General of the United States, respectively.
Formative Years
William Barr was brought into this world in New York City, on the 23rd of May 1950. His parents Donald Barr and Mary Margaret Barr were both Columbian-based professors.
Nevertheless, his father ultimately took the helm of the Tarrytown-based Hackley School after serving as the headmaster of the Dalton School in Manhattan. Growing up on New York’s Upper West Side, William was nurtured in a Catholic home alongside his three siblings.
Education
William Barr was schooled at the Horace Mann School before enrolling at Columbia University, where he studied government and earned a B.A. in 1971.
He remained at Columbia for his 1973 M.A. in government and Chinese studies. He had also started working for the Central Intelligence Agency as a summer intern during this time.
Subsequently, William migrated to Washington, D.C., where he resumed his career as a CIA intelligence agent after earning his master’s degree.
At the George Washington University Law School, he enrolled as an evening student and earned his J.D. in 1977. Throughout this period, he continued to work for the CIA.
Career Life
William Barr worked as a legal clerk for a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for a year after graduating from law school. Then he joined Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge, a law company.
He worked there from 1978 until 1989, taking a year off to work as the Deputy Assistant Director for Legal Policy on the Reagan White House’s domestic policy staff from 1982 to 1983.
William was elected Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice by President George H. W. Bush in 1989, at the start of his presidency.
When then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh resigned the following year, he was named Deputy Attorney General and then served as Acting Attorney General.
William was later formally nominated by Bush, confirmed by the Senate, and sworn in as attorney general on November 26, 1991. He was unanimously confirmed in the Senate by a vote of Democrats and Republicans alike due to his excellent reputation.
During his first term as attorney general, William Barr supported a number of causes, one of which was raising the incarceration rate in the country because he believed it would reduce crime.
In 1992, he also began a surveillance effort to compile information on American callers’ overseas communications. Without a complete examination of its legality, the initiative was started.
Additionally, he suggested that President Bush pardon Caspar Weinberger, who served as defense secretary under President Reagan and was being investigated for allegedly planning to deceive both Congress and the American public.
Barr started working for the telecommunications corporation GTE Corporation as the executive vice president and general counsel once Bush’s administration came to an end.
During the 14 years he served in this aforementioned position, he worked to promote deregulation and oversaw the GTE and Bell Atlantic merger that gave rise to Verizon Communications. The year 2008 saw Barr leave Verizon.
In 2009, Barr then completed a brief stint with the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. From 2010 to 2017, he served as a consultant to businesses on legal issues and regulatory updates before returning to Kirkland & Ellis.
President Donald Trump had a strong advocate and supporter in William Barr, who frequently criticized legal challenges and inquiries into Trump’s administration and campaign.
He claimed in a 20-page uninvited memo delivered to top Justice Department officials in June 2018 that the Special Counsel should not be looking into Trump.
Later, a lot of Democrats described the memo as Barr’s candidacy for the office of Attorney General.
Whatever Barr’s intentions with the letter, President Trump did select Barr to succeed Jeff Sessions in December 2018 and he was approved in February 2019 in a vote that was almost entirely along party lines.
William Barr was a staunch supporter and defender of Trump’s policies and choices while serving as the president’s attorney general.
His handling of the Mueller report’s response, his involvement in the convictions of a number of former Trump advisers, including Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, as well as his management of the Trump crisis involving Ukraine and Russia all drew harsh criticism.
Additionally, he brought back the capital penalty at the federal level, where it had been almost 20 years since its execution. The Trump presidency saw the most executions of any administration in the previous 120 years.
William’s resignation was announced by Trump in December 2020, and Barr later confirmed the news.
Journalists have noted that Barr did more than any other Attorney General in the previous 50 years to move the Department of Justice closer to the White House in their comments on Barr’s work as Attorney General to the Trump Administration.
This opinion is consistent with Barr’s basic outlook on the scope and extent of executive power.
Personal Life
Christine Moynihan and Barr got married in 1973. Since then, the pair has been married. They have three daughters: Mary, Patricia, and Margaret, all of whom have gone on to work in the government in some capacity.
While functioning on the board of the Catholic Information Center of the Archdiocese of Washington from 2014 to 2017, William Barr, an active member of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, was also elected to the National Catholic Leadership Conference.
In addition, he enjoys playing the bagpipes and has been doing so since he was eight years old when he first competed. The City of Washington Pipe Band once included him as a member.
Honorary Degree
George Washington University bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Barr in 1992.
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