WASHINGTON — President Bush's nomination Monday of former federal judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general won praise from unlikely quarters and possibly averted a contentious Senate confirmation battle.

Leading Democrats, who had vowed to block any nominee who appeared overly partisan, said Mukasey appeared independent enough to be confirmed.

"I'm glad President Bush listened to Congress and put aside his plan to replace Alberto Gonzales with another partisan administration insider," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Judge Mukasey has strong professional credentials." » read more

WASHINGTON — The first flare-ups of civil unrest were spreading across the segregated South in early 1961 as newly appointed Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy sat hunched over a map of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Justice Department civil rights chief Burke Marshall and his top deputy, John Doar, told Kennedy that the pins in the map marked counties and parishes where the department had opened investigations or sued to protect blacks' right to vote.

At age 85, Doar vividly recalls Kennedy's reaction: "That's too slow. I want pins all over the map." » read more