July 12, 1988
The President today announced his intention to nominate former Governor Richard L. Thornburgh to be Attorney General. He would succeed Attorney General Edwin Meese III.
Governor Thornburgh served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987. He is currently serving as director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Prior to becoming Governor he served as United States attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 1969 - 1975. Governor Thornburgh also served in the United States Department of Justice as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, 1975 - 1977, and for a brief time as Acting Deputy Attorney General in 1977. He is currently a partner in the law firm of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, with which he was also affiliated from 1959 to 1969 and from 1977 to 1979.
Governor Thornburgh received his LL.B. degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. He received his B.Eng. degree from Yale University in 1954. Governor Thornburgh is married and has four children. He was born July 16, 1932, in Pittsburgh, PA.