Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is the 82nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position. He is serving under President Barack Obama.

Holder previously served as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, United States Attorney, and Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and as a senior legal advisor to then-Senator Barack Obama during Obama's presidential campaign. He was one of three members of Obama's vice-presidential selection committee.

Eric H. Holder, Jr. was born in Queens, New York to parents with roots in Barbados; Holder's father, Eric Himpton Holder, Sr. (1905–1970) was born in Saint Joseph, Barbados, arrived in the United States at the age of 11. He later became a real estate broker. His mother, Miriam, was born in New Jersey, while his maternal grandparents were immigrants from Saint Philip, Barbados. Holder grew up in East Elmhurst, Queens, and attended public school until the age of 10. When entering the 4th grade he was selected to participate in a program for intellectually-gifted students. In 1969 he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and attended Columbia University, where he played freshman basketball and was co-captain of his team and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history in 1973. Holder received his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School, graduating in 1976. He worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund during his first summer and the United States Attorney during his second summer.