How Matt Whitaker went from owning a day care center to leading the Justice Department

Matthew Whitaker. — (Image credit: Steve Pope/Getty Images)

President Trump reportedly hated that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn't have an Ivy League education. But it didn't stop Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker from rising to replace Sessions after his ouster last week. And it's far from the most unusual thing on Whitaker's resume, The Washington Post reports.

While securing his undergraduate and eventual law degree from the University of Iowa, Whitaker was "something of a local legend" on the Rose Bowl-bound football team, the Post details. The Iowa native moved to Minnesota and became a general counsel for a grocery store chain after graduating, then returned home in 2001 and launched a failed bid for state treasurer. Next up, Whitaker bought a majority stake in trailer manufacturer, purchased an entire day care center, and co-founded a concrete company.

Whitaker worked at a small law firm the whole time he was back in Iowa, and was "plucked from relative obscurity" to become a U.S. attorney in 2004 under former President George W. Bush, writes the Post. In that job, Whitaker was accused of targeting an openly gay Democratic state senator with extortion charges. Whitaker has denied the allegation, per the Post. He stepped down as U.S. attorney in 2009, and after a few more business ventures, ended up at the DOJ.

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Attorneys general "typically boast judgeships, partnerships at prestigious firms, and senior roles in the Justice Department," the Post writes. So it's no wonder Whitaker had what one federal court expert called an "an extraordinarily weak and unusual background for a U.S. attorney." Yet somehow, the Trump loyalist and critic of the Russia probe beat the odds and took charge of them all. Read more at The Washington Post.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.