William S. Sessions

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For other people named William Sessions, see William Sessions (disambiguation).

Bill Sessions
4th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In office
November 2, 1987 – July 19, 1993
PresidentRonald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
DeputyFloyd I. Clarke
Preceded byWilliam H. Webster
Succeeded byLouis Freeh
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
In office
1980–1987
Preceded byJack Roberts
Succeeded byLucius Desha Bunton III
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
In office
December 20, 1974 – November 1, 1987
Appointed byGerald Ford
Preceded byErnest Allen Guinn
Succeeded byEmilio M. Garza
United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas
In office
1971–1974
Appointed byRichard Nixon
Preceded bySegal Wheatley
Succeeded byHugh Shovlin
Personal details
Born
William Steele Sessions

(1930-05-27)May 27, 1930
San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Alice Lewis
​
​
(m. 1952; died 2019)​
Children4, including Pete
EducationBaylor University (BA, LLB)

William Steele Sessions (May 27, 1930 – June 12, 2020) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sessions served as FBI director from 1987 to 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton. After leaving the public sector, Sessions represented Semion Mogilevich, international leader of the Russian mafia. He is the father of Texas Congressman Pete Sessions.

Early life and education

Sessions was born in

Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.[4][5]

Career

Law practice

Sessions was an attorney for the firm of Haley, Fulbright, Winniford, Sessions, and Bice in Waco, Texas, from 1963 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.[2]

Federal judicial service

Sessions was nominated by President Gerald Ford on December 11, 1974, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas vacated by Judge Ernest Allen Guinn. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 19, 1974, and received his commission on December 20, 1974. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 to 1987. He served as a board member of the Federal Judicial Center from 1980 to 1984. His service terminated on November 1, 1987, due to his resignation.[2]

FBI Director (1987–1993)

After a two-month search, Sessions was nominated to succeed William H. Webster as FBI Director by President Ronald Reagan and was sworn in on November 2, 1987.[6]

Sessions was viewed as combining tough direction with fairness and was respected even by the Reagan administration's critics, although he was sometimes ridiculed as straitlaced and dull and lacking hands-on leadership. He worked to raise the image of the FBI in Congress and fought to raise the pay of FBI agents, which had lagged behind other law enforcement agencies.[6]

Despite being a Republican who was appointed by Reagan, Sessions disappointed the administration of President

Persian Gulf War, and 48 hours later Sessions was the subject of an ethics investigation on whether he had abused his office perks.[7][6]

Sessions enjoyed his strongest support among liberal Democrats in Congress.[7][6] Sessions was applauded for pursuing a policy of broadening the FBI to include more women and minorities, efforts which upset the "old boys" at the Bureau.[6]

Sample "Winners Don't Use Drugs" message from Golden Axe.

Sessions became associated with the phrase "

attract mode of North American–released arcade games from 1989 to 2000.[8][9] By law, it had to be included on all imported arcade games released in North America, 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.[8]

Sessions' major contributions to the US criminal justice community include the encouraging of the FBI laboratory to develop a DNA program with a strong legal underpinning and the automation of the national fingerprint process. The latter project, known as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), reduced the turnaround time from months to hours for fingerprint searches for both criminal arrest cycles and applicants for sensitive positions such as teachers.[6]

Sessions was FBI director during the controversial 1992

Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas that lasted from February 28 to April 19, 1993.[10]

Allegations of ethics violations and dismissal

Just before

Attorney General of the United States, announced that Sessions had exhibited "serious deficiencies in judgment".[11]

Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July, with some suggesting that President Clinton was giving Sessions the chance to step down in a dignified manner. Sessions refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong, and insisted on staying in office until his successor was confirmed. As a result, President Clinton

at the pleasure of the President.[12]

President Clinton nominated Louis Freeh to the FBI directorship on July 20, 1993. Then–FBI Deputy Director Floyd I. Clarke, who Sessions suggested had led a coup to force his removal, served as Acting Director until September 1, 1993, when Freeh was sworn in.[13]

Sessions 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.[14]

Later career

William Sessions was the American attorney of

FBI Most Wanted Fugitives list, with close ties to Vladimir Putin.[15][16][17]

Sessions was a member of the

ICPO-Interpol. He was also a member of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee.[18]

Sessions was present on the

The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force in December 2010.[21][22][23]

He died less than two months after two former Acting FBI Directors, James B. Adams, and John E. Otto, and 6.5 months after another Acting FBI Director, William Ruckelshaus.

Personal life and death

Sessions married Alice Lewis, his high school classmate, in 1952. Together, they had four children: William L., Pete, Mark, and Sara. He filed for divorce on February 20, 2018, but this was dismissed without prejudice on October 11, 2019.[10] Alice died in 2019 at their home in Washington, D.C.[24]

Sessions died on June 12, 2020, at his home in San Antonio from complications of heart failure.[24] He was 90.[25][26]

Citations

  1. ^ "Sessions", freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
  2. ^ a b c William Steele Sessions (1930–) at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  3. ^ "Alumni". Delta Chi at CSU Long Beach. Delta Chi. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Distinguished Eagle Scout Award". Pikes Peak Council. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  5. ISSN 0036-9500
    .
  6. ^ a b c d e f Atlas, Terry (October 27, 1992). "FBI Director's Mistakes Slowly Come To Light". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Johnston, David (January 19, 1993). "F.B.I. Chief Plans to Fight for Job". The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b Hutchinson, Sean (August 19, 2015). "How the F.B.I. Made 'Winners Don't Use Drugs' the Arcade Motto of the '90s". Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. ^ Volpe, Michael J.; Franklin, Mary Beth (September 12, 1993). "Fed Games". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Danner, Patrick (October 25, 2019). "Former FBI director, wife call off San Antonio divorce". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "Time's Up for William Sessions". Opinion. The New York Times. January 22, 1993.
  12. ^ Ostrow, Ronald J.; Jackson, Robert L. (July 20, 1993). "Defiant FBI Chief Is Fired by President: Law enforcement: Alleged ethical abuses by Sessions are cited as reason for dismissal. He refused to resign". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ Johnston, David (July 20, 1993) "Defiant FBI chief removed from job by the President", The New York Times.
  14. ^ Ramsey, Ross (December 13, 1999). "Campaign Finance: Some Assembly Required". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  15. ^ Unger 2018, p. 218.
  16. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (January 14, 2018). "Column: A close reading of Glenn Simpson's Trump-Russia testimony". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  17. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original
    on July 9, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  18. ^ "Constitution Project: Liberty and Security Initiative". Constitutionproject.org. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
  19. ^ "Bar Association: Bush Oversteps Power". CBS News. Associated Press. July 24, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "A trebly dubious death sentence | Reasonable doubt". The Economist. April 24, 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  21. ^ "Task Force on Detainee Treatment Launched".
    The Constitution Project. December 17, 2010. Archived
    from the original on December 15, 2010.
  22. ^ "Think tank plans study of how US treats detainees".
    Wall Street Journal. December 17, 2010. Archived from the original
    on December 19, 2010. Former FBI Director William Sessions, former Arkansas U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, a retired Army general and a retired appeals court judge in Washington are among 11 people selected for a task force that will meet for the first time in early January, said Virginia Sloan, a lawyer and president of The Constitution Project.
  23. The Constitution Project. December 17, 2010. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on July 25, 2011.
  24. ^ a b MacCormack, John (June 12, 2020). "Bill Sessions: former prosecutor, judge and FBI director, dies at 90". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  25. ^ Valentine, Paul W. (June 12, 2020). "William S. Sessions, FBI director who battled agency's old guard, dies at 90". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  26. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (June 12, 2020). "William S. Sessions, F.B.I. Director at a Turbulent Time, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

General and cited references

External links
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
1974–1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
1980–1987 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1987–1993 		Succeeded by
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