 In 1988 Corbett was first elected to public office as a Commissioner in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler, before serving as the United States Attorney for Western Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1993 in the George H. W. Bush administration.In 1995, Corbett was appointed to fill the remainder of Ernie Preate's term as Attorney General of Pennsylvania, until 1997.Corbett then reentered private practice and worked as the general counsel for Waste Management, Inc before being elected Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 2004.