April D. Ryan

During a series of five back to back interviews with the major TV and cable news networks President Obama says it was “my fault” on the breakdown of the vetting process of Tom Daschle.  Obama also said of himself, he made a “self inflected wound” that “distracts from the peoples business.”  Daschle withdrew his nomination as a result of a tax controversy.  Obama said it was unintentionial and a substantial mistake on his Daschles part.  President Obama says he does not want to send a double standard on tax issues.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Eric H. Holder Jr.  is now the nation’s first African American attorney general.  Holder, promising a “break with the immediate past,” said that the department’s 110,000 employees could look forward to working in an environment where “there shall be no place for political favoritism. No reasons to be timid.”  The ceremony was conducted by Vice President Biden, who praised Holder as someone who understood that he was “the people’s lawyer” and not just part of a White House administration.  The Senate confirmed Holder yesterday by a vote of 75 to 21.  Holder began his career as a public corruption prosecutor before serving as U.S. attorney in the District and as a Superior Court judge. Holder later operated as second in command at the Justice Department in the waning years of the Clinton administration.  The confirmation of holder was not all smooth sailing.  His work on the last minute pardon of fugitive financer Marc Rich was one of the clouds that loomed over the hearing process.