Eric Holder has been named as the new US attorney general after a decisive vote of 75 to 21 in the US Senate.

Holder, a former partner at US law firm Covington & Burling, is the first-ever African-American to serve as the nation's chief law enforcer.

The appointment of Holder (pictured), a former federal prosecutor, judge, and US Attorney defies earlier predictions that his involvement in controversial Clinton-era pardons would impede his nomination.

Following Holder's confirmation, the Senate Judiciary Committee will now begin vetting his deputies, including Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's David Ogden, the nominee for the Justice Department's second-in-command spot. Ogden's confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin on Thursday (5 February).

Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy said: "I am more convinced than ever that Holder is the person who will reinvigorate the Department of Justice."

Leahy called Holder "a good man, a decent man, a public servant committed to the rule of law."

Holder comes to the job after seven years in private practice at Covington, where he was a sought-after figure for companies, non-profit organisations and government agencies caught up in criminal or ethical investigations.

Holder, who met Obama at a dinner party in 2004, advised the new US President on legal issues and led the team that vetted his potential running mates.

Holder will immediately take a leading role in shaping the US Government's new regime for detaining and interrogating suspected terrorists. He will also head up an effort to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year. That undertaking will include a review of each of the 245 detainees held there.

National security will remain the department's top concern, and Holder has voiced support for the majority of the tools created during the Bush administration, including the Patriot Act, the amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and new guidelines that give FBI agents uniform rules for assessing threats in both national security and criminal investigations.

During his confirmation hearings, Holder placed special emphasis on reviving the tradition role of the Civil Rights Division and said that several federal laws designed to protect rights in the workplace have languished in recent years.

Holder also promised to wage an aggressive fight against perpetrators of financial fraud and market manipulation.

This article first appeared in Legal Times, Legal Week's US sister title.