Editing Robert C. Bonner (section)

==Education and early career==

Bonner was born in [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]], Kansas. He grew up in Wichita where his father practiced law and his mother was a school teacher. He credits his mother for infusing him with a strong commitment to public service. He received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree magna cum laude from the [[University of Maryland, College Park]] in 1963. and a [[Juris Doctor]] from [[Georgetown University Law Center]] in 1966.<ref name=FJC>{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/bonner-robert-c.|title=Bonner, Robert C. – Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref> 

He was a law clerk for [[Albert Lee Stephens Jr.]] of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of California]] from 1966 to 1967. He was on in the [[United States Navy Reserve]] [[Judge Advocate General Corps]] from 1967 to 1971, rising to the rank of [[Lieutenant]], USNR. During that time, he served for nearly two years on an aircraft carrier, the [[USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42)]].  He was an [[Assistant United States Attorney]] for the [[United States District Court for the Central District of California|Central District of California]] from 1971 to 1975, and then went into private practice in [[Los Angeles]] for nine years. Afterwards he became the [[United States Attorney]] for the same district in 1984.<ref name=FJC/> As a United States Attorney, he worked closely with the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) on two record-breaking [[money laundering]] cases, Operations Pisces and Polar Cap, led the prosecution team against the killers of a DEA special agent, and personally prosecuted the first FBI agent charged with espionage.<ref name=GDC>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibsondunn.com/insidegdc/whoswho/bio/?contactId=b97f85845ca1282c|title=Biography at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher|publisher=}}</ref><ref>[https://www.fbcoverup.com/docs/library/1988-11-09-H-Prt-100-NN-Plum-Book-Policy-and-Supporting-Positions-Committee-on-Post-Office-and-Civil-Service-House-of-Representatives-100th-Congress-2d-Session-Y4G74-7-P-75-6-988-GPO-Nov-09-1988.pdf#page=105 Policy and supporting positions] fbcoverup.com p. 93</ref>