William Webster, in Memoriam

William Webster, the only person ever to head both the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, passed away last week in Warrenton, Virginia at the age of 101. The career public servant was a conservative Republican who was appointed by both Democratic and Republican Presidents to high offices. Born in St. Louis, Missouri I 1924, Webster served in the Navy during the Second World War and Korean War. Appointed a U.S. Attorney in 1960 by President Dwight Eisenhower, he next was appointed federal District Judge in 1970 and then Appeals Court Judge three years later by President Richard Nixon. Judge Webster was then appointed CIA Director in 1978 by President James Carter, serving until 1987, when he was appointed FBI Director by President Ronald Reagan, a role in which he served until 1991. President George W. Bush appointed the octogenarian Webster Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, where he served until 2020, among other federal or legal professional commissions upon which he served. Webster also spent his last years as a private citizen serving America by warning of the danger that Donald Trump’s poor character would cause the U.S. and the world, like many former security and intelligence officers from both Democratic and Republican administrations, with whom he publicly joined. Webster won many awards for his service to American security, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. May Webster’s legacy of service inspire patriotism, duty and honor among Americans for another hundred years and more.