WASHINGTON (AP) — William H. Webster, the former FBI and CIA director whose troubleshooting skills and integrity helped restore public confidence in those federal agencies, has died, his family announced Friday. He was 101.
Webster led the FBI from 1978 to 1987 and the CIA from 1987 to 1991, the only person to guide the nation’s top law-enforcement agency and its primary intelligence-gathering organization.
By the time he came to Washington, at age 53, Webster had practiced law for nearly 20 years, had served a stint as a federal prosecutor and had spent almost nine years on the federal bench in his native St. Louis. Those who opposed him in court or disagreed with his rulings acknowledged that his honesty was beyond question.
“Every director of the CIA or the FBI should be prepared to resign in the event that he is asked to do something that he knows is wrong,” Webster said after he agreed to lead the spy agency.
President Jimmy Carter selected Webster, a Republican, for a 10-year term as FBI chief as the bureau sought to improve an image tarnished by revelations of domestic spying, internal corruption and other abuses of power. Demanding but fair of his agents, he was generally credited with developing its ability to handle new challenges such as terrorism.
