Editing Michael Chertoff (section)

{{Short description|American government official (born 1953)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Michael Chertoff
| image               = Michael Chertoff, official portrait, Homeland Security Council.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2022
| office              = 2nd [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security]]
| president           = [[George W. Bush]]<br />[[Barack Obama]]
| term_start          = February 15, 2005
| term_end            = January 21, 2009
| predecessor         = [[James Loy]] (acting)<br>[[Tom Ridge]]
| successor           = [[Janet Napolitano]]
| office1             = Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]]
| appointer1          = [[George W. Bush]]
| term_start1         = June 10, 2003
| term_end1           = February 15, 2005
| predecessor1        = [[Morton Ira Greenberg]]
| successor1          = [[Michael Chagares]]
| office2             = [[United States Assistant Attorney General#Criminal Division|United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division]]
| president2          = [[George W. Bush]]
| term_start2         = January 20, 2001
| term_end2           = June 10, 2003
| predecessor2        = James Robinson
| successor2          = [[Christopher A. Wray]]
| office3             = [[United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey]]
| president3          = [[George H. W. Bush]]<br />[[Bill Clinton]]
| term_start3         = 1990
| term_end3           = 1994
| predecessor3        = [[Samuel Alito]]
| successor3          = [[Faith S. Hochberg]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1953|11|28}}
| birth_place         = [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{Marriage|Meryl Justin|1988}}
| children            = 2
| education           = [[Harvard College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Harvard Law School]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
}}

'''Michael Chertoff''' (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security]] to serve under President [[George W. Bush]]. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President [[Barack Obama]]. He was the co-author of the [[Patriot Act|USA PATRIOT Act]]. Chertoff previously served as a [[United States federal judge|United States circuit judge]] of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit]], as a federal prosecutor, and as [[United States Assistant Attorney General|Assistant U.S. Attorney General]]. He succeeded [[Tom Ridge]] as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15, 2005.

Since leaving government service, he co-founded the Chertoff Group, a risk-management and security consulting company. He has also worked as senior [[of counsel]] at the [[Washington, D.C.]], law firm of [[Covington & Burling]]. He is also the chair and a member of the board of trustees in the international freedom watchdog [[Freedom House]], and sits on the bipartisan advisory board of States United Democracy Center.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MICHAEL CHERTOFF |url=https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/people/michael-chertoff/ |access-date=August 31, 2022 |publisher=States United Democracy Center |language=en}}</ref>