Holder says goodbye to being attorney general

Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Obama bids farewell to Attorney General Holder President Barack Obama has bid farewell to Attorney General Eric Holder one more time at the Department of Justice on Friday. (Feb. 27)

In a ceremony steeped in government pomp and featuring the unveiling of his official portrait and a surprise appearance by musical icon Aretha Franklin, Attorney General Eric Holder bid an emotional farewell Friday to the Justice Department, where he rose from a line prosecutor to the nation's chief law enforcement officer.

"I came to this department as an unformed, 25-year-old graduate from law school," said Holder, who was joined at the Department's Great Hall by President Obama and an overflow crowd of well-wishers.

"I will leave grayer and wiser but still struck by the wonder of all that this great organization and its people have exposed me to," he said.

Although the attorney general said his goodbyes during the late afternoon gathering, he will not formally leave office until Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch is confirmed by the full Senate, which is expected in the next few weeks.