Mueller was born in New York City and grew up outside of Philadelphia. A graduate of St. Paul's School in 1962, he went on to graduate from Princeton University in 1966 and earned a masters degree in international relations at New York University in 1967. He then joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an officer for three years, leading a rifle platoon of the Third Marine Division in the Vietnam War. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Following his military service, Mr. Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1973 and served on the Law Review. After completing his education, Mr. Mueller worked as a litigator in San Francisco until 1976. He then served for 12 years in United States Attorney's Offices, first in the Northern District of California in San Francisco, where he rose to be chief of its criminal division. In 1982, he moved to Boston as an Assistant United States Attorney where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorist and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers.

After serving as a partner at the Boston law firm of Hill and Barlow, Mr. Mueller was again called to public service. In 1989 he served in the United States Department of Justice as an assistant to Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh. The following year he took charge of its criminal division. During his tenure, he oversaw prosecutions, including the conviction of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, the Lockerbie Pan Am 103 bombing case, and the John Gotti mobster prosecution. In 1991, he was elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers .

In 1993, Mr. Mueller became a partner at Boston's Hale and Dorr , specializing in complex white collar crime litigation. He returned to public service in 1995 as senior litigator in the homicide section of the District of Columbia United States Attorney 's Office. In 1998, Mr. Mueller was named United States Attorney in San Francisco and held that position until 2001. He then served as Acting Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice for several months, before becoming FBI Director on September 4, 2001, just one week before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Mr. Mueller and his wife Ann have two daughters.

This article is based on public domain text from the FBI web page.[1]