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Amos T. Akerman




He was opposed to secession, but joined the Confederate Army where he served in the quartermaster's department. He saw action in several battles.

Akerman, however, became opposed to slavery, and would play a crucial role in Reconstruction as a member of Georgia's 1868 state constitutional convention and as U.S. district attorney for Georgia ( 1869 ). On June 23, 1870, he was appointed as Attorney General by President Ulysses S. Grant, and dealt with the Credit Mobilier scandal, railroad magnates, and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). As Attorney General, Akerman was the first to serve as head of the newly created Justice Department . Akerman resigned in 1872 because of the beginning of corruption that plagued Grant's administration. His opposition to the Klan, led advisors to pressure President Grant into asking for Akerman's resignation. He returned to Georgia, where continued to practice law until his death in Cartersville , on December 21 , 1880 .


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  Before Ebenezer R Hoar
  Title United States Attorney General
  Years 1870&ndash1872