William Webster (born March 6, 1924) is a former federal judge who ascended to the CIA after his successful coups against the New York mafia families while director of the FBI under President Jimmy Carter. Webster is the only American to serve as both Director of Central Intelligence and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He earned his J.D. degree from the Law School of Washington University in St. Louis in 1949.
Since retiring as head of the CIA in 1991, Webster has practiced law at the Washington D.C. office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy where he specializes in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation. Milbank's roots are traced back to 1866, with the inception of the original firm, Anderson, Adams & Young. The first merger took place in April 1929, when the then-successor firm, Murray & Aldrich, combined with Webb, Patterson & Hadley and became Murray, Aldrich & Webb. In 1931, the Firm merged with Masten & Nichols to become Milbank, Tweed, Hope & Webb. The Firm's present name dates from 1962
Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (1978-1987)
Director of Central Intelligence (1987-1991)
Chairman, Homeland Security Advisory Council
Bohemian Grove meeting Attendee
RAND, Chairman of the Board (1959-1960)
Member of the Alfalfa Club
The 1982 Tylenol Murders
Webster's primary public role during the Tylenol investigations was to calm concerns about the distribution system and to act as a cheerleader for Johnson & Johnson.
When Webster was asked by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes about J&J's handling of the Tylenol crisis, he said:
"The attitude of top management has been first the interest of the public, then assisting law enforcement, and then their own corporate concerns for the product." Later, Ronald Reagan himself blessed Burke for living "up to the very highest ideals of corporate responsibility and grace under pressure."
In fact, the attitude of top management was first the price of J&J stock, and second, the salvation of the Tylenol brand. Concern for the safety of the public was only important in that if more people died, the affect on J&J's top two concerns, the price of J&J stock and the integrity of the Tylnol brand, would be negatively affected.
The intent of the FBI led investigation was to convince the public that Tylenol was safe, the distribution channel was secure, and it was a lone madman who had commited this horrible crime. To the public, the investigation was managed by Tyrone Fahner; that was not the case. Fahner was completely controlled by the FBI, and the FBI was completely aligned to the desired outcome of the investigation as dictated by J&J executives and FDA officials.
Crime-Fighting Under at the FBI during the reign of William Webster
Domestic Spying Authorized by William Webster
After the Church Committee exposed, in 1975, the covert activities by the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other Military Intelligence groups to spy on Americans in America, the activities were supposed to have stopped. In fact they did not.
In 1988 President Reagan ordered an internal review of the FBI's surveillance of domestic groups opposed to his Central American policy. Lawyers from the Center for Constituional Rights had obtained 1,200 pages of internal bureau files that showed more than 100 groups, including church organizations and labor unions, came under scrutiny beginning in 1981 because of their ties to critics of the Administration's foreign policy. William Webster had authorized a five-year surveillance campaign that used undercover agents and informers to gather information about the groups. - F.B.I. FACES REVIEW OVER SURVEILLANCE OF FOES OF POLICY
THE WEBSTER COMMISSION
Four years after he'd retired from the FBI, William Webster was asked to lead a Commission to study security programs within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The request was made by then FBI Director, Louis Freeh, who had concluded that an outside review was critical in light of the then recently discovered espionage by a senior Bureau official.
Specifcally, the Commission for the Review of FBI Security Programs was established in response to possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history: the treason of Robert Hanssen, an FBI Supervisory Special Agent, who over twenty-two years gave the Soviet Union and Russia vast quantities of documents and computer diskettes filled with national security information of incalculable value.
As shocking as the depth of Hanssen’s betrayal is the ease with which he was able to steal material he has described as “tremendously useful” and “remarkably useful” to hostile foreign powers. Hanssen usually collected this material in the normal routine of an FBI manager privy to classified information that crossed his desk or came up in conversation with colleagues. Before going to some prearranged “drops” with Soviet and Russian agents, Hanssen would simply “grab[] the first thing [he] could lay [his] hands on.” In preparation for other acts of espionage, which he might have months to anticipate, Hanssen was more systematic. He was proficient in combing FBI automated record systems, and he printed or downloaded to disk reams of highly classified information. Hanssen also did not hesitate to walk into Bureau units in which he had worked some time before, log on to stand-alone data systems, and retrieve, for example, the identities of foreign agents whom US intelligence services had compromised, information vital to American interests and even more immediately vital to those whose identities Hanssen betrayed.
During our review of FBI security programs, we found significant deficiencies in Bureau policy and practice. Those deficiencies flow from a pervasive inattention to security, which has been at best a low priority. In the Bureau, security is often viewed as an impediment to operations, and security responsibilities are seen as an impediment to career advancement.
Until the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the FBI focused on detecting and prosecuting traditional crime, and FBI culture emphasized the priorities and morale of criminal components within the Bureau. This culture was based on cooperation and the free flow of information inside the Bureau, a work ethic wholly at odds with the compartmentation characteristic of intelligence investigations involving highly sensitive, classified information. - Read Full Report
He was born in St. Louis and received his early education in Webster Groves; he received his bachelor's degree from Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts in 1947 and his Juris Doctor degree from the Law School of Washington University in St. Louis in 1949.
After serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during World War II, he joined a St. Louis firm, but left private practice soon after to begin a long and illustrious career in public service. He was a United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1960 to 1961, then a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, Webster was appointed a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and in 1973 he was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Five years later, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Then in 1987, President Ronald Reagan chose him to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He led the CIA until his retirement from public office in 1991. Since then, Webster has practiced law at the Washington D.C. office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy where he specializes in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation.
For his distinguished service, Webster has received numerous honors and awards. Washington University granted Webster the Alumni Citation for contributions to the field of law in 1972 and in 1981 he received the William Greenleaf Eliot Award. In 1999 the School of Law created the Webster Society, an outstanding scholars program. Furthermore, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the university's law school in 1977. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat named him "Man of the Year."
Webster has received numerous awards for public service and law enforcement and holds honorary degrees from several colleges and universities. In 1991, he was presented the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Security Medal. In June 2008 Webster received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The Institute of World Politics.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Council of the American Law Institute, the Order of the Coif, the Missouri Bar Integrated and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. Additionally, he served as chairman of the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He served as Co-chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.