November 12, 1991
By Sharon LaFraniere
...William Pelham Barr, (click here) bureaucrat, whose legal career began only 14 years ago with night law classes at George Washington University. President Bush's nominee for attorney general arrives at his confirmation hearings today before the Senate Judiciary Committee through the wildly unusual route of government service.
Legal observers compare Barr's nomination to President Jimmy Carter's selection of Benjamin R. Civiletti, a consummate professional who became attorney general after a similarly rapid rise through Justice Department posts. Like Civiletti, Barr is known as a cool-headed manager without political ambitions.
In 18 months as deputy attorney general, Barr was considered a conciliator at a Justice Department in turmoil during most of Attorney General Dick Thornburgh's (click here) tenure. Department officials say Barr tempered candor with discretion, a strong will with a tolerance for the personalities and views of others.
But the favorable reviews that are expected to win Barr easy confirmation are accompanied by uncertainties for some senators and former Justice Department officials. Is Barr too much an advocate for presidential power? Does his nomination mean the final ascendancy of the White House counsel over the role of attorney general? Barr owes his advancement partly to powerful White House counsel C. Boyden Gray (click here), who controlled the administration's civil rights policy during Thornburgh's tenure....
