Life and Career
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 where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, 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.
On March 3, 2002 the University of California, Santa Barbara, held a debate titled "National Security vs. Personal Liberty." The guest speakers were Mr. Webster and American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen. During the debate, Mr. Webster made the following statement which has since gained some popularity. “Security is always seen as too much until the day it’s not enough..." He also stated "Order protects liberty and liberty protects order.”
Read more about this topic: William H. Webster
Famous quotes containing the words life and, life and/or career:
“Somewhere along the line of development we discover who we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone elses life not even your childs. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (18841962)
“The intellectual life may be kept clean and healthful, if man will live the life of nature, and not import into his mind difficulties which are none of his.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partners job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)