Profile: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

— -- Alberto R. Gonzales, the second of eight children, grew up in a two-bedroom house in Houston, and rose to become the top law enforcement official in the United States and the nation's first Hispanic attorney general.

If nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Sandra Day O'Connor as a Supreme Court justice, he would become the first Hispanic on the high court.

On Feb. 3, 2005, Gonzales, 49, was confirmed by the Senate to succeed John Ashcroft as attorney general. Despite Democratic complaints that he helped construct questionable U.S. policies on the treatment of foreign prisoners and evaded questions having to do with the war on terror, the Senate confirmed him with a 60-36 vote.

During his attorney general confirmation hearings, Democrats on the Judiciary Committee stood unexpectedly united in their opposition to Gonzales, with all eight opposing the nominee.

Historically, several nominees for attorney general have engendered animosity during the confirmation process. Ashcroft, a former Missouri senator, drew a deeply divided 58-42 vote four years ago.

Gonzales served in Bush's administration when the president was governor of Texas, and was named White House counsel in January 2001.

Gonzales was born in San Antonio and attended public schools in Texas. He served in the Air Force from 1973 to 1975, then attended the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1975 to 1977.

After his military service, he attended Rice University, graduating in 1979, and received his law degree from Harvard University Law School in 1982.

In private practice, Gonzales joined the law firm of Vinson & Elkins in Houston in 1982, and eventually was named a partner.

As governor, Bush brought Gonzales into his administration in 1994 as a senior adviser, chief elections officer, and the governor's lead liaison on Mexican and border issues.

Gonzales was named Texas' secretary of state in December 1997 and served until January 1999, when he was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court. He was a justice until January 2001, when Bush invited him to join his administration in Washington.