Editing United States Attorney General (section)

==History==
{{see also|United States Department of Justice#History}}
[[File:Seal of the United States Department of Justice.svg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Seal of the Department of Justice]]

[[United States Congress|Congress]] passed the [[Judiciary Act of 1789]] which, among other things, established the Office of the Attorney General. The original duties of this officer were "to prosecute and conduct all suits in the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in which the United States shall be concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon [[questions of law]] when required by the president of the United States, or when requested by the heads of any of the departments".<ref>[[Judiciary Act of 1789]], section 35.</ref> Some of these duties have since been transferred to the [[United States Solicitor General|United States solicitor general]] and the [[White House Counsel|White House counsel]].

The [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] was established in 1870 to support the attorneys general in the discharge of their responsibilities.

The [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]], the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]], the [[United States Secretary of Defense|secretary of defense]], and the attorney general are regarded as the four most important [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]] officials in the United States because of the size and importance of their respective departments.<ref>''Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch'' (1997). [[Congressional Quarterly]]. p. 87.</ref>