Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft serves as Distinguished Professor of Law and Government at Regent University. Ashcroft served as attorney general during President George W. Bush’s first administration. As attorney general, he is credited with overseeing a historic era of safety and security in the United States following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He also led the U.S. Justice Department during his tenure with the Bush Administration, and took an active role in reducing gun crime, targeting illegal drugs and protecting civil rights. Ashcroft served two terms as Missouri’s attorney general and was twice elected governor of the state. While serving as governor of Missouri, Ashcroft was chairman of the Education Commission of the States, an interstate compact created to improve public education by facilitating the exchange of information, ideas, and experiences among state policymakers and education leaders. In addition, Fortune magazine rated John Ashcroft one of the “Top Ten Education Governors.” He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994 and earned a reputation on Capitol Hill as a man of uncompromising principle.
