Gonzales To Step Down

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he will leave office on September 17, after several months of battling calls for his resignation from many in Congress over the firing of eight federal prosecutors last year. In his short statement, he gave no reason for his departure, instead alluding to his roots in a working-class Mexican family, as the son of a construction worker. "I have traveled a remarkable journey," Mr. Gonzales said, his voice breaking when he mentioned family. "I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father's best days."

President George W. Bush, who first hired the conservative Republican in 1995 as counsel after he was elected governor of Texas, reacted bitterly to the news, telling reporters that Mr. Gonzales, his "close friend," had suffered "months of unfair treatment" and had "his good name dragged through the mud."

The attorney general has come under fire from Democrats and some Republicans for his handling of the U.S. attorney firings - which they argue was a partisan move - and other matters such as the handling of captured terror suspects.