William H. Webster, the native of Webster Groves who served as a federal prosecutor and judge in 果酱视频 before becoming the only person to lead both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, died Friday. He was 101.
The lifelong Republican, who favored dark suits, crisp shirts and horn-rimmed glasses, was known as a straight shooter who was not swayed by partisan interests. He was credited with restoring trust in the two federal agencies following periods plagued by scandal.
FILE - Former FBI and CIA head William H. Webster speaks to reporters in Washington, Oct. 25, 2002.
鈥淗e was universally admired,鈥 said former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth on Saturday. 鈥淗e was exactly what a public official should be: namely, honorable.鈥
In 1978, Webster was a federal appeals court judge when a Democrat, President Jimmy Carter, chose him to become only the third director in the FBI鈥檚 history. The bureau was reeling from almost a half century under autocratic Director J. Edgar Hoover. Its image had been tarnished by the Watergate scandal and decades of domestic spying on war protesters and civil rights advocates.
People are also reading…
When Webster arrived, the FBI was staffed almost entirely with white men who had lived in fear of Hoover鈥檚 every word.
Hoover鈥檚 FBI was focused on clearing bank robberies and car thefts. Webster helped transform it into an organization that targeted white-collar criminals and terrorists. He prohibited infiltration of peaceful political groups, launched a massive affirmative-action program and recruited hundreds of women and minorities. He appointed the first Black special agent in charge, the highest-ranking criminal investigator within an FBI division.
Not everyone benefited from the changes. A yearslong sting operation known as Abscam, which led to the conviction of several members of Congress, drew the ire of many lawmakers.
The politicians thought they were dealing with a Middle Eastern businessman with money to burn. When the 鈥渟heikh鈥 turned out to be an undercover agent, some members of Congress accused the bureau of entrapping politicians.
But Webster had issued strict guidelines, ordering agents not to sell the politicians on the scheme. If anyone wants to leave, he told them, 鈥測ou let them leave.鈥 None of the 11 Abscam convictions were overturned on appeal.
On Friday, the FBI lauding Webster鈥檚 work.
鈥淗e was a dedicated public servant,鈥 it read. 鈥淲e are grateful for his life and legacy.鈥
Webster led the FBI for nine years, a year shy of the full term for director. In May 1987, President Ronald Reagan was seeking a replacement for controversial CIA Director William J. Casey, who had died amid Congressional investigations into the agency鈥檚 covert activities.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence unanimously endorsed Webster 鈥 but only after he promised them he wouldn鈥檛 be 鈥渄evious鈥 or 鈥渃ute鈥 like his predecessor.
Webster was not a foreign policy expert and wasn鈥檛 considered well-prepared for the position. But he rebuilt the CIA鈥檚 credibility with lawmakers and the public.
In the aftermath of the Iran-Contra affair, during which the U.S. secretly sold arms to Iran, he fired two employees and disciplined a dozen others.
Webster said the agency had an obligation to be accountable to citizens. He established procedures for approving clandestine actions and brought in a former aide to give the media more access.
鈥淗e created confidence in the most important and sensitive parts of the government,鈥 said Danforth. 鈥淭hat was Bill Webster.鈥
And though his stern demeanor was notable among his subordinates, he also flashed a sly sense of humor. Webster sometimes signed letters, 鈥00-14,鈥 doubling James Bond鈥檚 famous code name and referencing his place as the CIA鈥檚 14th director.
A favorite gift from an assistant referenced Webster鈥檚 鈥渢ennis diplomacy鈥: a stuffed bear dressed in a judge鈥檚 robe, FBI T-shirt and sneakers. The bear gripped a tennis racket in its paw, presumably a fellow fierce competitor.
Webster regularly hit the court with Katharine Graham of the Washington Post, Alan Greenspan of the Federal Reserve and Vice President George H.W. Bush. When Bush became president in 1989, he asked Webster to stay on as CIA director.
Under Webster, the agency endured criticism for not anticipating the end of the Cold War. Webster had been the first CIA director to travel behind the Iron Curtain, but no one, he later said, could have predicted how quickly the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc would fall.
鈥淭he whole world changed. ... Predecessors of mine had been listening for hiccups,鈥 said Webster. 鈥淗ere, suddenly, we had the dissolution of the Soviet Empire.鈥
It was, he said, a remarkable time to be in public service: 鈥淚 felt privileged to have been a part of it.鈥
The George W. Bush Presidential Center Friday in a post on X.
鈥淛udge Webster had the respect and confidence of several Presidents from both parties, including my father and me,鈥 the post said. 鈥淗is passion for the rule of law and for the greatness of America made him a model public servant.鈥
Webster was born on March 6, 1924, and grew up in Webster Groves. His father owned farmland and started several small businesses. Young William attended First Church, a Christian Science congregation in Webster Groves, and graduated in 1941 from Webster Groves High School. He is the oldest alumnus with a plaque hanging outside the school鈥檚 auditorium, part of the district鈥檚 鈥淲all of Fame.鈥
During World War II and again in the Korean War, Webster served as a lieutenant in the Navy. In between, he attended Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he befriended fellow Missourian and future U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton.
Eagleton called him 鈥渢he closest thing to Jack Armstrong, the all-American boy.鈥
In 1949, Webster earned his law degree from Washington University 鈥 which later established a scholarship in his name 鈥 and was married the following year. After he returned to 果酱视频 from Korea, he signed on at the law firm of Armstrong, Teasdale, Kramer and Vaughan.
In the early 1960s, Webster was U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Missouri. He was appointed a judge for the eastern district in 1970; three years later, he was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He resigned to become FBI director, relocating to Washington at age 53.
Webster said he had never intended to remain at the FBI for an entire 10-year term, much less stay inside the Beltway to head the CIA.
He focused his career, he explained, around the idea that the private man in public life 鈥渉as been called to do a job, and when he鈥檚 done the job, he will leave.鈥
Former FBI director and CIA director William Webster, right, accompanied by his wife, Lynda Webster, who were targeted by a man who peddled a lottery scam over phone calls and emails, speaks during a news conference to address elder financial exploitation and law enforcement actions, at the Department of Justice in Washington, March 7, 2019.聽
Webster headed the CIA for more than four years. After retiring in 1991, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among other honors.
He joined a law firm in Washington and helped the airline industry defeat costly new security measures in the early 1990s.
A decade later, the Securities and Exchange Commission named him chairman of a fledgling public oversight board for the accounting industry. He resigned after it became known that, as a board member, he headed the audit committee of a company accused of fraud.
In June 2006, he was appointed chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, which had been formed in response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He stepped down at age 95.
Webster remained busy even as his first century drew to a close.
鈥淗e was a real force to be reckoned with, regardless of his age,鈥 the nonprofit International Spy Museum on X. 鈥淗e continued to publish his insights on United States democracy and possibility in recent years.鈥
Webster and his wife, Lynda, were featured three years ago in an to beware of phone scams. An unsolicited caller had tried to swindle the Websters out of tens of thousands of dollars, claiming the couple had won a sweepstakes.
With Webster鈥檚 assistance, the FBI nabbed the fraudster, who was sentenced to prison.
Last year, at age 100, Webster wrote a letter to senators raising concerns over then President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 nominations to direct the FBI and the CIA.
鈥淚 urge you to weigh the critical importance of nonpartisan leadership and experience,鈥 he wrote.
Webster鈥檚 first wife, Drusilla, died in 1984. He is survived by his second wife, Lynda, whom he married in 1990; and his and Drusilla鈥檚 three children, seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held in Washington on Sept. 18.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images and hours of footage every year. See some of their best work from July 2025 here.
