Former FBI and CIA Director William H. Webster dies at 101

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.

Former President George W. Bush said in a statement Friday night that Webster's “passion for the rule of law and for the greatness of America made him a model public servant.”

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.

President Ronald Reagan chose Webster to replace CIA chief William J. Casey, who had been criticized for being too political, ignoring Congress and playing a part in the arms-for-hostages scandal known as Iran-Contra.

Webster, again in the role of outsider with no political agenda, quickly sought to ease tensions with Congress. He reported regularly on the CIA’s activities to lawmakers charged with intelligence oversight and avoided the appearance of trying to shape policy. Retiring from federal service in 1991, he joined a Washington law firm but still served on a variety of policy-related boards and commissions.

In 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission selected Webster, on a partisan vote, to lead a board created by Congress to oversee the accounting profession in the wake of scandals involving Enron and other corporations.

Before the board’s first meeting, however, Webster resigned amid questions about his role as head of the audit committee of U.S. Technologies, a company itself accused of fraud. The controversy over his role in Webster’s appointment contributed to the resignation of SEC Chair Harvey Pitt.

William Hedgcock Webster was born on March 6, 1924, in St. Louis. He was raised in the suburb of Webster Groves, Missouri, his father the owner of ranch and farm land and the operator of small businesses. He served as a Navy lieutenant during World War II and returned to active duty for two years during the Korean War. He graduated from Amherst College with a bachelor’s degree in 1947 and earned a law degree from Washington University Law School in St. Louis in 1949.

Webster practiced law with a St. Louis firm until 1960, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. He resigned the following year after President John F. Kennedy’s election and then spent most of the 1960s in private practice. Appointed by President Richard Nixon to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in 1971, Webster established a reputation as a moderate jurist. Nixon elevated Webster to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1973.

“I think of myself as operating from a position of restraint but being ready to take any judicial actions necessary to achieve the ends of justice,” Webster said as he closed his judicial career to join the FBI. Critics, however, faulted him for a tendency to favor the prosecution in criminal cases.

Liberals and conservatives commended Webster for an even-handed record on civil rights, even though he was a member of St. Louis social organizations that excluded minorities. He contended that he would not belong to any club that actively practiced racism. As FBI director, he brought more Black people and women into the bureau. Replacing Clarence M. Kelley, Webster focused the FBI’s efforts on organized crime, white-collar offenders and drug enforcement.

Highlighting attention to political corruption was the Abscam sting, in which officials offered bribes to bureau employees posing as Middle Eastern businessmen. Eleven people, including six members of Congress, were convicted.

Webster also stepped up the FBI’s anti-terrorism and counterintelligence activities, which helped prepare him for the CIA post. Some who questioned his appointment as director of central intelligence contended that his lack of operational experience and foreign affairs experience was a detriment.

Webster was credited with building morale within the CIA and beginning its shift from a Cold War stance. The agency was accused, some claimed unfairly, of not anticipating how quickly the Soviet Union and its Eastern bloc would crumble and not doing more in advance of Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991. It was commended for the intelligence it provided during the Gulf War.

Over a nine-year period that included Webster’s term, CIA officer Aldrich Ames sold secrets to the Soviet Union and compromised dozens of operations before he was arrested and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1994. Webster and other CIA chiefs were criticized for failing to detect Ames’ activities.

In retirement, Webster served on a presidential panel on homeland security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was a member of a commission investigating security lapses at the FBI.

Webster, a Christian Scientist who did not smoke, seldom drank and enjoyed playing tennis and reading history, married Drusilla Lane Webster in 1950; they raised two daughters and one son. Following her death from cancer in 1984, he married Lynda Jo Clugston in 1990.

Webster is survived by his second wife, three children from his first marriage and their spouses, seven grandchildren and spouses and 12 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in Washington on Sept. 18.

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Daniel, the primary writer of this obituary, retired from The Associated Press in 2023.

FILE - Former FBI Director William H. Webster looks on during the commemoration of the bloodiest events in the Bureau's history on the 25th anniversary of a Miami shootout in which two agents were killed, in North Miami Beach, Fla., April 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

FILE - 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. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - William H. Webster, left, is congratulated by President Jimmy Carter after being sworn in as new director of the FBI in Washington, Feb. 23, 1978. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges, File)

FILE - Former FBI and CIA head William H. Webster speaks to reporters in Washington, Oct. 25, 2002. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson, File)

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.

Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday as foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.

The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.

“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.

Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.

On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.

Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continuation of “dialogue and diplomacy.”

“Greenland is not for sale,” he said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”

In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.

Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.

Maya Martinsen, 21, said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.

The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

On Wednesday, Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”

“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.

Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.

The Russian embassy in Brussels on Thursday lambasted what it called the West's “bellicose plans” in response to “phantom threats that they generate themselves”. It said the planned military actions were part of an “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda” by NATO.

“Russia has consistently maintained that the Arctic should remain a territory of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation," the embassy said.

Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.

Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”

Speaking on Thursday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact despite the Washington meeting, but she welcomed the creation of the working group.

The most important thing for Greenlanders is that they were directly represented at the meeting in the White House and that “the diplomatic dialogue has begun now,” Juno Berthelsen, a lawmaker for the pro-independence Naleraq opposition party, told AP.

A relationship with the U.S. is beneficial for Greenlanders and Americans and is “vital to the security and stability of the Arctic and the Western Alliance,” Berthelsen said. He suggested the U.S. could be involved in the creation of a coastguard for Greenland, providing funding and creating jobs for local people who can help to patrol the Arctic.

Line McGee, 38, from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”

Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

People walk on a street in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

From center to right, Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, rear, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, right, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)

Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)