page_title: John Ashcroft
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: John Ashcroft / Personal life
caption_attribution_description: English: Missouri Governor John Ashcroft attends a post-recommissioning dinner for the battleship USS MISSOURI (BB 63), 5/10/1986
context_page_description: John David Ashcroft is an American lawyer, songwriter and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General, in the George W. Bush Administration. He later founded The Ashcroft Group, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm.
  Ashcroft previously served as Attorney General of Missouri, and as the 50th Governor of Missouri, having been elected for two consecutive terms in succession, and he also served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri. He had early appointments in Missouri state government and was mentored by John Danforth. He has written several books about politics and ethics. Since 2011 he sits on the board of directors for the
  private military company Academi, has been a member of the Federalist Society, and is a professor at the Regent University School of Law, a conservative Christian institution affiliated with televangelist Pat Robertson.
  His son, Jay Ashcroft, is also a politician, serving as Secretary of State of Missouri since January, 2017.
context_section_description: Ashcroft is a member of the Assemblies of God church. He is married to Janet E. Ashcroft and has three children with her. His son, Jay, is the Missouri Secretary of State.
  Ashcroft had long enjoyed inspirational music and singing. In the 1970s, he recorded a gospel record entitled Truth: Volume One, Edition One, with the Missouri legislator Max Bacon, a Democrat.
  With fellow U.S. senators Trent Lott, Larry Craig, and Jim Jeffords, Ashcroft formed a barbershop quartet called The Singing Senators. The men performed at social events with other senators.
  Ashcroft composed a paean titled "Let the Eagle Soar," which he sang at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in February 2002. Ashcroft has written and sung a number of other songs. He has collected these on compilation tapes, including In the Spirit of Life and Liberty and Gospel (Music) According to John. In 1998, he wrote a book with author Gary Thomas titled Lessons from a Father to His Son.
  Ashcroft was given an honorary doctorate before giving the commencement at Toccoa Falls College in 2018.
caption: Ashcroft in 1986
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