According to media reports, Holder, a former judge, US attorney and deputy attorney general, is the first African American attorney general.
During his professional career, Holder has held a number of significant positions in government. Upon graduating from Columbia Law School, he moved to Washington, DC and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honours Program.
In 1988, Holder was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was confirmed by the Senate and his investiture occurred in October of that year.
Over the next five years, Judge Holder presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials and matters. In 1997, President Clinton appointed Holder to serve as Deputy Attorney General, the number two position in the United States Department of Justice. He was the first African-American to serve as Deputy Attorney General.
According to a Fox News report, Washington attorney Eric Holder would first have to go through a Senate confirmation, and officials close to process of selection are said to be sending feelers around the Senate to see if Holder passes muster.
Image: Holder, Obama's nominee to be the next US Attorney General, arrives for a press conference in Chicago, Illinios, on December 1, 2008.
Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: 'America, we have come so far'
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