Webster was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 8, 1970, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, to a new seat created by 84 Stat. 294. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1970, and received his commission on December 21, 1970. His service was terminated on August 10, 1973, due to elevation to the Eighth Circuit. Webster was nominated by President Nixon on June 13, 1973, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Marion Charles Matthes. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 13, 1973, and received his commission on July 18, 1973. His service was terminated on February 22, 1978, due to his resignation.
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This was despite Webster being a registered Republican. Webster is portrayed by actor Sean Cullen in Season 2 of the Netflix show Mindhunter, which takes place during his tenure as Director of the FBI.
In 2002, he was the first chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. However, his appointment was controversial, and another controversy erupted when newspapers reported that Webster had headed the board audit committee of U.S. Technologies, a high-tech company being investigated for accounting irregularities and accused of fraud. Webster resigned less than three weeks after the PCAOB was set up. Webster has been the longtime chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Honors and awards
Webster received numerous honors and awards for his service. Washington University granted him the Alumni Citation for contributions to the field of law in 1972 and in 1981 he received the William Greenleaf Eliot Award. In 1984, he received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. 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." He also received 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 as well as honorary doctorates from The Institute of World Politics and National Intelligence University. He received the William J. Donovan Award from The OSS Society in 2005 and serves as an honorary chairman of this organization. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Council of the American Law Institute, the Order of the Coif, The Missouri Bar, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the Psi Upsilon fraternity. 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. In 2009, he was named to head an independent investigation of the FBI's actions surrounding the Fort Hood shooting. Webster also serves as an Honorary Director on the Board of Directors at the Atlantic Council.
Personal life
He was married for 34 years to Drusilla Lane Webster and the couple had three children: Drusilla L. Busch, William H. Webster, Jr. and Katherine H. Roessle. Following Drusilla Webster's death in 1984, he was remarried in 1990 to the former Lynda Clugston. They reside in Washington, D.C. In 2015, William and Lynda Webster were targeted by a man who peddled a lottery scam over phone calls and emails. Over multiple phone calls, Keniel Aeon Thomas of Jamaica told the Websters he'd set their house ablaze or have a sniper shoot them in the back of the head if they didn't pay him thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors' filings. The Websters used their knowledge of the FBI to help send the scammer to prison for nearly six years in early 2019.
Quotes
On March 3, 2002, the University of California, Santa Barbara, held a debate titled "National Security vs. Personal Liberty". The guest speakers were Webster and American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen. During the debate, Webster made the following statement, which has since gained some popularity: "Security is always seen as too much until the day it is not enough". He also stated: "Order protects liberty and liberty protects order."
