| William S. Sessions | |
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| 4th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation |
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| In office November 2, 1987 – July 19, 1993 |
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| President | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | John E. Otto |
| Succeeded by | Floyd I. Clarke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 27, 1930 Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. |
William Steele Sessions (born May 27, 1930) is a civil servant who served as a judge and 4th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sessions served as FBI director from 1987 to 1993, when he was dismissed by President Clinton.
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Sessions graduated from Northeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1948, and enlisted in the United States Air Force, receiving his commission October 1952. He served on active duty until October 1955. He attended Baylor University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956 and an LL.B. degree in 1958.
Sessions is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America. The Scouting tradition runs deep in the Sessions' lineage – his son, Pete Sessions (a member of the United States House of Representatives serving Texas' 32nd District), is also a Distinguished Eagle Scout, his grandson Bill is also an Eagle Scout, and his father, William A. Sessions, Jr. wrote the first God and Country handbook for the Boy Scouts of America.[1][2]
Sessions was an attorney for the firm of Haley, Fulbright, Winniford, Sessions, and Bice in Waco, Texas from 1958 until 1969. He was then appointed Chief of the Government Operations Section, Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., where he served until his appointment as United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas in 1971. In 1974 he was appointed United States District Judge for that district, becoming Chief Judge in 1980. He also served on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D C, and on committees of both the State Bar of Texas and the Judicial Conference of the United States. Overall he has been a practicing attorney for more than 40 years. He also is associated with the National Youth Leadership Forum on Law (NYLF/LAW).
In 1987 Sessions was nominated to succeed William H. Webster as FBI Director by President Ronald Reagan and was sworn in November 2, 1987.
Sessions was applauded for pursuing a policy of broadening the FBI to include more women and minorities. He was viewed as combining tough direction with fairness and was respected even by the Reagan administration’s critics, although he was sometimes ridiculed as strait-laced and dull.
Sessions became associated with the phrase "Winners Don't Use Drugs", which appeared on idle arcade game screens during demos or after a player finished playing a game. By law it had to be included on all imported arcade games and continued to appear long after Sessions left office. The quote normally appeared in gold against a blue background between the FBI seal and Sessions' name.
Sessions was FBI director during the controversial 1992 confrontation at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, at which the unarmed Vicky Weaver was shot dead by an FBI sniper. This incident provoked heavy criticism of the Bureau as did the deadly assault on the Branch Davidian church that lasted from February 28 to April 19, 1993. These incidents were also related to the discovery of severe procedural shortcomings at the FBI's crime laboratory.
Following the inauguration of William J. Clinton as the 42nd President of the United States on January 20, 1993, allegations of ethical improprieties were made against Sessions. A report presented to the Justice Department that month by the Office of Professional Responsibility included criticisms that he had used an FBI plane to travel to visit his daughter on several occasions and had had a security system installed in his home at government expense. Janet Reno, the 78th Attorney General of the United States, announced that Sessions had exhibited "serious deficiencies in judgment." Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July and when he refused to do so he was fired on July 19.
Clinton nominated Louis Freeh to the FBI directorship at a Rose Garden ceremony on July 20. Former Deputy Director Floyd I. Clarke served as Acting Director until September 1, 1993 when Freeh was sworn in.
He returned to Texas where on December 7, 1999 he was named the state chair of Texas Exile, a statewide initiative aimed at reducing gun crime.
Judge Sessions is a member of the American Bar Association and has served as an officer or on the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association of San Antonio, the American Judicature Society, the San Antonio Bar Association, the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association, and the District Judges' Association of the Fifth Circuit. He was appointed by President Reagan as a Commissioner of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission, and was a Delegate for the Americas to the Executive Committee of ICPO-Interpol. He is also a member of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee.[3]
In 2006, Mr. Sessions also was present on the American Bar Association task force examining the constitutionality of controversial presidential signing statements, which concluded that the practice "does grave harm to the separation of powers doctrine, and the system of checks and balances that have sustained our democracy for more than two centuries".
In 2008, he argued that the execution of Troy Anthony Davis should not proceed because of serious doubts as to whether Davis is actually guilty.[4]
Sessions agreed to serve on The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force in December 2010.[5][6][7]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John E. Otto |
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 1987–1993 |
Succeeded by Floyd I. Clarke |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by Ernest A. Guinn |
Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas December 20, 1974 – November 1, 1987 |
Succeeded by Emilio M. Garza |
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