> **Michael Chertoff** (born November 28, 1953) is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President [[George W. Bush]]. Chertoff also served for one additional day under President [[Barack Obama]]. He was the co-author of the USA [[PATRIOT Act]]. Chertoff previously served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded [[Tom Ridge]] as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15, 2005. > > Since leaving government service, Chertoff has worked as senior of counsel at the Washington, D.C. law firm of [[Covington & Burling]]. He also co-founded the [[Chertoff Group]], a risk-management and security consulting company. He is also the Chair and a member of the board of trustees in the international freedom watchdog [[Freedom House]]. Chertoff also sits on the bipartisan advisory board of [[States United Democracy Center]]. > > [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael%20Chertoff)