Monday’s resignation of Attorney General Gonzales comes months too late. His time in public service has been a checklist for the title of history’s worst Department of Justice head. He transformed America’s federal law enforcement body into a political arm of the White House, filling political positions with fourth tier law students and allowing the illegal hiring of civil servants based upon loyalty, not to the law, but to President Bush. Eight successful U.S. Attorneys in his department were fired for their refusal of White House orders to obstruct justice, by unjustly prosecuting Democrats or stopping the prosecution of Republicans, to influence the results of the 2006 elections. Gonzales supported a blatantly illegal wiretapping program—which, as White House Counsel, he attempted to coerce a barely conscious, hospital-bedridden Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve. Approximately 30 top-level Justice Department officials threatened to resign if this program was authorized.

In testifying about these issues before Congress, Gonzales conveniently lost all recollection of his actions, the dates on which events occurred, and the people to which he had talked as Attorney General. However, he did remember just enough to seemingly commit perjury by directly contradicting the testimony of his former deputy James Comey and that of the FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Now that Gonzales has resigned, the Senate must act to repair the Department of Justice. First, although Gonzales has reached the pinnacle of his career by resigning, it does not excuse that, as the nation’s top law enforcement official, he lied under oath. The Senate must continue to pursue perjury charges. Second, any nominee to replace him must be willing to appoint a special prosecutor to fully investigate the U.S. Attorney matter. Third, the nominee must allow the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., to prosecute any contempt charges brought by Congress as a consequence of the failures of former and current executive branch members—including Harriet Miers and Karl Rove—to respond to subpoenas to testify under oath. Finally, any nominee must make it a priority to clean out the corruption that now begrimes the Justice Department. Any nominee who does not meet these criteria must be voted down.

But who in his or her right mind would want the job? It takes a particularly slavish partisan to be willing to defend the illegal programs of a presidency that history will cast as a punchline. As it seems that most people in Washington don’t want the job, perhaps some ambitious RPI students would be willing to step up to the plate. So they might be forwarded to the president by Gonzales himself, please address your resumés to: U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001.

You might not have a law degree, but don’t underestimate the power of the American Dream.