Memorandum to Attorney General William French Smith by Theodore Olson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. February 10, 1982
At your request, I have attempted to synthesize the many
facets of the relationship in our constitutional government between the Attorney
General and the President and to describe in a few words the responsibilities of
the Attorney General to the. Constitution and laws of the United States as well
as to the Executive Branch and the President.
The following few paragraphs
represent my effort to distill a very complex subject into its essence. The
responsibilities of the Attorney General are unique within the Executive
Branch. While he is a policy-adviser and servant of the President like other
cabinet members, his peculiar role as a lawyer -the
lawyer for-the United States -adds a significant additional' dimension to his
relationship to the President, the balance of the government, and to its
citizens. .While the Attorney General :functions as the lawyer for'the President
and the Executive Branch, he is also charged with representing the government of
the United States as a whole, including the Legislative Branch. Furthermore, he
is subject to the ethical standards of his profession and he is an officer of
the Supreme Court. Finally, he is the Administration official with the paramount
responsibility for guiding the President in the performance of the President's
foremost duty under the Constitution -to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed.
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