Jeff Sessions is an American politician and attorney who is presently serving as the 84th United States Attorney General. In 1997, he was elected as a Republican senator from Alabama, a position he held for twenty years before resigning to assume his present position. Throughout his congressional career, which has been marred by allegations of racism, he pursued conservative ideals, such as maintaining a robust military and law enforcement and enforcing stricter immigration laws. He opposed many Democratic initiatives, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which advocated for equal pay for women. As Attorney General, he encouraged federal prosecutors to pursue the most severe charges possible, including the death penalty, against major drug traffickers. Not only did he threaten to limit federal funding to sanctuary cities if they did not comply with federal immigration policy, but he also supported President Donald Trump’s widely criticized policy of separating young children from their parents at the border. He is among the government officials accused of collusion with Russia during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and he fired FBI Director James Comey, who was heading the investigations.
Youth and Early Life
Jefferson Beauregard ‘Jeff’ Sessions III was born in Selma, Alabama on December 24, 1946, to Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Jr. and Abbie Powe, who owned a general store. He became an Eagle Scout in 1964, and after many years of service, he was awarded the “Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.”
After graduating from Wilcox County High School in Camden, he attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery, where he was an active member of the Young Republican National Federation and served as student body president. After receiving a B.A. in 1969, he enrolled in the University of Alabama School of Law and graduated with a J.D. in 1973.
Legal & Political Profession
During his early career, Jeff Sessions worked as an attorney in both Russellville and Mobile, as well as serving as a lieutenant in the Army Reserve in the 1970s. In 1975, he joined the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed him United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, a position he held for twelve years. As he unsuccessfully prosecuted three African-American community organizers for voter fraud but did not prosecute two Ku Klux Klan members charged with the murder of a black man, he was initially accused of selective prosecution.
Reagan nominated him to the U.S. District Court for the same region in 1986, but the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected his nomination for the second time in 48 years. While he apologized for a remark that appeared to condone the KKK, four former Department of Justice attorneys testified that he frequently made racially offensive remarks.
In November of 1994, he defeated Democrat Jimmy Evans with 57% of the vote and was elected Alabama Attorney General. Soon after, he hired private attorneys to challenge a 1993 court ruling that sought to equalize financing for poor community schools, which were predominantly attended by black students, and wealthier schools, but the move was ruled unconstitutional.
In 1996, he won the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and then defeated Democrat Roger Bedford in the November general election. In the same year, he cited a “violation of state law” after the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance sued Alabama for denying funding to student organizations supporting homosexuality, but the law was ultimately deemed unconstitutional.
In 2002, he defeated Democratic State Auditor Susan Parker to win reelection to the Senate. In 2008, he defeated Democratic State Senator Vivian Davis Figures to retain his seat. In the 2014 Republican primary, he was unopposed, and he won re-election by defeating write-in Democratic candidate Victor Sanchez Williams in the general election.
In late February 2016, he became the first senator to endorse Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He was on the shortlist to be Trump’s running mate but lost out to Mike Pence. On November 18, 2016, President-elect Trump nominated him for the position of United States Attorney General, which was promptly opposed by a number of civil and human rights organizations due to his past actions.
On February 8, 2017, despite protests and allegations of collusion with Russia during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Senate confirmed his nomination. Members from both parties demanded that he recuse himself from investigations into Russia’s interference in the elections after additional reports surfaced regarding his meetings with the Russian ambassador twice.
On March 2, 2017, he proclaimed his decision to recuse himself, and one week later, he sent the President a memo recommending the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the investigations. While Trump fired Comey immediately, he asserted publicly that he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general if he had known Sessions would recuse himself. Sessions offered his resignation, but it was rejected.
Policies Adopted While Serving
On March 10, 2017, Jeff Sessions oversaw the dismissal of 46 US Attorneys from the Obama administration who were requested to resign by Trump. After disbanding the National Commission on Forensic Science and ending the review of forensic accuracy a month later, he was accused of removing the “science” from Forensic Science.
He has been a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, and on March 27, 2017, he warned that cities that do not comply with federal immigration policy will forfeit federal funding. In June 2018, amid outrage over the Trump administration’s decision to separate children from their detained parents at the border, he was criticized by religious leaders and scholars for citing a Bible verse out of context to defend the policy.
In May 2017, he rescinded his predecessor Eric Holder’s directive to reduce mass incarceration by avoiding mandatory sentencing and directed federal prosecutors to pursue the most severe criminal charges conceivably. He opposed the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act bill in February 2018 and issued a memo the following month urging prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against major drug dealers.
Additionally, in May of 2017, he urged congressional leaders to repeal the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment so that the Justice Department could prosecute medical marijuana providers. Later, in January 2018, he rescinded the Cole Memorandum to enable federal prosecutors to prosecute state-legalized marijuana use.
As a skeptic of climate change, he voted for legislation that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases. He also voted to allow hydrocarbon drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Personal History and Legacy
Jeff Sessions wed Mary Blackshear, a teacher he met at Huntingdon College, in 1969. Mary, Ruth, and Sam Sessions, as well as ten grandchildren, are their offspring. His wife and he are members of the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile. He also teaches Sunday school at the local church. Kate McKinnon portrays Jeff Sessions in parody segments on “Saturday Night Live.”
Estimated Net Worth
Jeff Sessions is a politician and attorney in the United States with a net worth of $5 million. In December 1946, Jeff Sessions was born in Selma, Alabama. He is a Republican and a graduate of Huntington College and the University of Alabama’s law school.