In the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African-American attorney general, is resigning after nearly six years as head of the Justice Department. Holder made the announcement on Thursday.

Eric Holder: “I have loved the Department of Justice ever since as a young boy I watched Robert Kennedy prove during the civil rights movement how the department can and must always be a force for that which is right. I hope that I have done honor to the faith that you have placed in me, Mr. President, and to the legacy of all those who have served before me.”

Holder will remain in office until a successor is nominated and confirmed. Response to his resignation has been mixed. While civil rights groups have praised his record on voting rights and transforming the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, the American Civil Liberties Union has criticized his role in National Security Agency surveillance and Obama’s drone wars. We will host a roundtable on Holder’s record after headlines.