Alberto Gonzales - Attorney General, 2005-2007
As the nation's chief law-enforcement officer, Gonzales spent more time defending his performance on the job than actually doing it. When called to testify before Congress about his role in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and the misuse of the NSA's domestic-eavesdropping program, Gonzales attempted to use his own incompetence as a defense, pleading ignorance about the wrongdoing that had occurred under his leadership. He finally resigned in August 2007, but not before earning the dubious "Doublespeak Award" from the National Council of the Teachers of English for delivering the following testimony: "I have in my mind a recollection as to knowing as to some of these United States attorneys. There are two that I do not recall knowing in my mind what I understood to be the reasons for the removal."