Holder Poised to Make History, Again

The U.S. government released him to relatives in Miami, but Gonzalez' father, who still lived in Cuba, claimed he should have custody of his son. After a legal battle, the U.S. government determined Gonzalez should be repatriated to Cuba to be with his father.

The photographic image of an agent confronting a scared Gonzalez hiding in a closet with his relatives seared itself in the minds of many Americans.

After the raid, Holder appeared on "Good Morning America." During his interview with Diane Sawyer, he told of comforting his boss, then-Attorney General Janet Reno, while the agents carried out their task.

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"At the conclusion of this, I closed the door, at the time of the raid, and I held the attorney general in my arms, and she wept," Holder said.

"She did not want this to happen. She cares a great deal about that community, and hoped and prayed that there was a way in which this thing could have been worked out short of the enforcement action that she very reluctantly had to order."

Life After the Justice Department

Holder left the Justice Department after briefly serving as acting attorney general while Bush nominee John Ashcroft proceeded through his confirmation process. He is currently a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Covington & Burling.

While at Covington, he has worked with big league clients, including the NFL, Chiquita Brands International and Merck & Co., Inc.

Holder told The American Lawyer last June that his wife, Washington, D.C., obstetrician Sharon Malone, was not enthusiastic about his potential return to government work.

"[She] tells me that I won't be going anywhere except back to my law firm," he said. "So I think President Obama is going to have to talk to Sharon, and she's a pretty formidable person."

Though it doesn't come with the more-than-comfortable salary of a law firm partner, the draw to public service could lure Holder back to the Justice Department.

"What's great about the Obama presidency is that so many people, like Eric Holder, are willing to forgo big incomes and endure intrusive vetting to get back into public service," said Doug Kendall, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center. "What he's doing at a loss to his pocketbook and family life is what America needs to right the ship."