Webster led the FBI for nine years, a year shy of the full term for director. In May 1987, President Ronald Reagan was seeking a replacement for controversial CIA Director William J. Casey, who had died amid Congressional investigations into the agency’s covert activities.

Webster was appointed FBI director in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. A former federal judge from Missouri, Webster quickly signaled a new era of accountability. Over his nine-year tenure, he emphasized integrity, oversight, and rebuilding relationships with the public.

His family announced his death in a statement that called him an “extraordinary man” who “spent a lifetime fighting to protect his country and its precious rule of law.”