William Hedgcock Webster | Biography

William Hedgcock Webster served as a federal judge, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Webster restored confidence to both the FBI and CIA after political scandals had tainted these agencies. Webster was born March 6, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri and received his early education in Webster Groves near St. Louis. He attended Amherst College but left to serve as a naval lieutenant in World War II. After the war he returned to Amherst, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1947. Webster then returned to Missouri and entered the Washington University Law School. After graduating in 1949 he was admitted to the Missouri bar and entered private practice. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Webster was called back to the Navy for a two year tour of duty.

After his discharge from the Navy, Webster resumed his St. Louis law practice. He remained in private practice until 1959, when he was appointed United States attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. Webster only remained in the position for two years, returning to private practice in 1961. From 1964 to 1969 he was a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners.

Webster's professional life changed in 1970 when President Richard M. Nixon appointed him a federal district court judge. In 1973 Nixon elevated Webster to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Webster appeared to have reached a secure and respected place in the law, but he gave it up in 1978 to become director of the FBI. The FBI, which until the 1960s had been well respected, was in crisis. The last years of director J. Edgar Hoover had been marred by Hoover's questionable tactics involving anti-war and civil rights leaders. Then Richard Nixon and his top aides had involved the FBI in the Watergate scandal cover up, tarring the bureau as a political institution. Congressional investigations into FBI conduct further harmed the bureau. President Jimmy Carter appointed Webster director in large part because of Webster's personal integrity and fairness. Webster's appointment brought order and calm to a troubled agency, restoring its place and its reputation during his ten years as director. He strengthened the FBI's response to white collar crime and drug trafficking and approved the ABSCAM political corruption investigation that resulted in the convictions of a number of public officials.

History repeated itself in 1987 when President Ronald Reagan asked Webster to become the director of the CIA. Director William Casey, who had recently died, had been linked to many questionable activities surrounding the events that became known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Casey and high-ranking Reagan officials had subverted Congress and arranged for aid to the anti-Communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Casey's death left many unanswered questions. Again, congressional investigations led to pointed questions about the integrity and honesty of the agency. Webster mended fences with Congress and succeeded in restoring credibility to the CIA. When he retired in 1991 he was lauded for his efforts by many members of Congress.