Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jeff Sessions became US attorney general this year after serving as a Republican senator from Alabama. He began as a lawyer in Alabama in 1973, served as assistant US attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and as Alabama attorney general before being elected to the Senate in 1996. Click through to read more about his life and career. Hide Caption 1 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was born in Selma, Alabama, on December 24, 1946. Hide Caption 2 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions became an Eagle Scout as a young man. He also served in the US Army Reserve from 1973-1986. Hide Caption 3 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions and his wife, Mary Blackshear, met when he was a college freshman. He received his bachelor's from Huntingdon College in Alabama. Hide Caption 4 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions, then a US attorney, is questioned in 1986 by the Senate Judiciary Committee after he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to be a judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Sessions' nomination was rejected. Hide Caption 5 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions became Alabama attorney general in 1995. Here, he greets supporters in Mobile, Alabama, in 1996 while seeking the Republican nomination for the US Senate. Hide Caption 6 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Senator-elect Sessions at the GOP conference on December 5, 1996. Hide Caption 7 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions checks in on some Alabama delegates to the 2004 GOP presidential nominating convention in New York. The delegates took time out from the convention to volunteer at the Holy Apostle Soup Kitchen. Hide Caption 8 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, confer during a Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Alberto R. Gonzales in January 2005. President George W. Bush nominated Gonzales to be attorney general. Hide Caption 9 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions President George W. Bush joins Sessions at a 2007 Republican fundraiser for Session in Mobile, Alabama. Sessions was re-elected to the Senate in 2008. Hide Caption 10 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions during a congressional hearing in 2008. He served on the Senate Budget, Judiciary, Armed Services, and Environment and Public Works committees. Hide Caption 11 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions meets with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. He voted against her nomination, which was made be President Barack Obama. Hide Caption 12 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions speaks to reporters in 2009. He is accompanied by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, left, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee. Hide Caption 13 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan greets Sessions in 2010 while Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, looks on. Sessions voted against Kagan's nomination. Hide Caption 14 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Leahy and Sessions at Kagan's confirmation hearings in 2010. Kagan was nominated by President Barack Obama. Hide Caption 15 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, look at a copy of the 2013 budget during a news conference on Capitol Hill in February 2012. Obama's 2013 proposed budget was criticized by Republicans. Hide Caption 16 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions From left: First lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama and Sessions pray during the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. Hide Caption 17 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions speaks about Obama's executive order on immigration policy during a news conference in December 2014 with a delegation from the National Sheriffs Association. Obama's executive order came after congressional Democrats and Republicans failed to reach consensus on immigration laws. Hide Caption 18 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions On February 28, 2016, in Madison, Alabama, Sessions becomes the first senator to endorse Donald Trump for president. Hide Caption 19 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions In July 2016, Sessions talks with reporters after a meeting with then-presidential candidate Trump and the Senate Republican Conference at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters in Washington. Sessions was one of several Republicans being talked about as Trump's vice presidential running mate. Hide Caption 20 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions wears a "Make Mexico Great Again Also" hat before a Trump speech during a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in August 2016. Hide Caption 21 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions nominates Trump to be the Republican nominee for president at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 19, 2016. Hide Caption 22 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions listens in October 2016 as then-candidate Trump speaks during a national security meeting with advisers at Trump Tower in New York. Sessions was one of Trump's closest and most consistent allies. Hide Caption 23 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Donald Trump Jr. and Sessions at a dinner in Washington in January 2017. Hide Caption 24 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Sessions, then attorney general-designate, and his wife, Mary Blackshear Sessions, arrive for Trump's January 20, 2017, presidential inauguration. Hide Caption 25 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions Vice President Mike Pence swears in Sessions as attorney general while Sessions' wife and President Trump look on in the Oval Office on February 9, 2017. Sessions was approved after a contentious battle along party lines. Hide Caption 26 of 28

Photos: The life and career of Attorney General Jeff Sessions On March 2, 2017, Sessions pauses during a news conference at the Justice Department where he said he would recuse himself from a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. On July 19, Trump told The New York Times he wished Sessions hadn't made the recusal. Hide Caption 27 of 28