President Donald Trump’s choice was given the greenlight on Wednesday by a vote of 52-47.
Sessions had faced accusations of racism, and a Senate panel rejected him for a federal judgeship in 1986 amid concerns over allegedly racist comments he had made.
"This caricature of me from 1986 was not correct," Sessions said after his confirmation hearing last month.
"I deeply understand the history of civil rights ... and the horrendous impact that relentless and systemic discrimination and the denial of voting rights has had on our African-American brothers and sisters".
On Tuesday, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, a darling of the political left, was silenced in the Senate for reading a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr, that criticised Sessions for his civil rights record.
Democrats, civil rights and immigration groups have voiced alarm about Sessions’ record of controversial positions on race, immigration and criminal justice reform.
A known immigration hardliner, he will take over the Justice Department as its lawyers are defending Trump’s temporary entry ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries and all refugees, the most controversial executive order of the young administration.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals is due to rule this week on whether to overrule a district court judge in Seattle who suspended the ban last week.
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