Missouri’s new Attorney General Andrew Bailey pledged to run his office with a “steady hand, and unyielding pursuit of victory” in his first speech as the state’s top law enforcement official…Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced in November that Bailey, his general counsel, would lead the attorney general’s office.
“The very structure of our government is intended to provide a bulwark against centralized power and tyranny,” Bailey, a Republican, said in his speech. “Ours is not a government of special interests, or of cultural elites.
“Ours is a government of people like me, who understand the blessings of freedom,” Bailey said, adding his “personal history guides me, and it shapes who I am.”
Bailey said he was a Army combat veteran who led soldiers in combat. “I paid for my college in blood, sweat and tears,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he participated in an offensive operation in Iraq in the fall of 2015.
“My vehicle struck a roadside bomb,” Bailey said. “Within moments, I checked on my vehicle crew to ensure there were no serious injuries.
“We identified the trigger man and my platoon and I engaged the enemy and fought through the ambush,” Bailey said. “This experience reaffirmed the value of training and the need to lead with authority.”
“Our law, our freedoms are worth fighting for,” Bailey said in his speech…
Bailey, 41, of Rhineland, was hired as Parson’s general counsel in 2021 after serving in a deputy role for two years. Before joining the governor’s office, he was the top attorney at the Missouri Department of Corrections.
An Army veteran who was deployed twice following the 9/11 attacks, Bailey also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.