CIA'S WEBSTER STEPS DOWN WITH HIGH PRAISE FROM BUSH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000401660092-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 92
• Publication Date: May 9, 1991
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23 :CIA-RDP99-014488000401660092-1
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CIA's Webster steps down
with high praise from Bush
By Bill Gertz and Paul Bedard
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
judge for reinvigorating the agency
white "not trying to shape policy."
The president said he had not cone
sidered replacements yet, but senior
administration officials said the
leading candidate is Deputy Na-
tional Security Adviser Robert M.
Gags, a former CIA deputy director.
Others said to be on the list of
candidates to replace Mr. Webster
include National Security Adviser
Brent Scowcroft, a retired Air Force
general, and James Lilley, U S. am-
bassador to China and a former CIA
operative who is known m want the
position.
. The Webster resignation wan sud-
den, and the "Judge" is expected to
return to private law practice. He
could be named as an ambassador,
according to a source close to Mr.
Webster.
Mr. Web~t was FBI director
from 1978 t~til he was appointed
CIA director, io May 1987. He was
named CL4 after the death
of William For the peat four
years Mr. meter also has bean the
director of central intelligence -
the chief U.S. intelligence official.
Mr. Webster will remain in his
posts until a successor is named and
confirmed by the Senate, a CIA
spoke8man said.
Mr. Bush told reporters at an
early-morning news conference Mr.
Webster would be returning to pri?
vale life after 26 years in the federal
government, including eight years
as a trial and appellate judge and
nine years as FBI du?ector.
President Bush made the surprise
announcement yesterday that CIA
Director William Webster is retiring
as chief of the U.S. intelligence com-
munityafter nearly four years in of-
fice.
He praised the former federal
~~ 1~nssrl/t Prosident Bush announces William Webster's resignation P
"I hate to see him go;' the pres-
ident said.
? Mr. Bush, choaett in 1975 to run
the CIA, said Mr. Webster "brought
an integrity and effectiveness and a
insight to the many intelligence-
gathering~operationa of thin nation.
He has done a superb job:'
Mr. Webster, who appeared at the
White House with the president,
said: ?I know I am leaving you a
healthy organization. One that has ,
had ... a good track record For its
accountability.'.
'Absolutely;' said Mr. Bush.
"You hate to leave, but something
tells. you that it's a good time to
leave;' Mr. Webster said. "I still have
my roots in the law, and this gives me
an opportunity to pursue other ave-
nues in the private sector"
A source clone to Mr. Webster said
he would accept an ambassadorship
if offet'ed the right post..
administration official close to
the CIA said the decision by Mr.
Webster to retire was made recently
and that the director decided to leave
"at a high point" after the success of
US. intelligence in the Persian Gulf
war.
Mr. Webster, 67, also was n^t look-
ing forward to the current efforts by
Congreaa to reorganize U.S. intelli-
gence, ajob that could be handled
better by the next CIA director, said
the official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Some critics have charged the
CIA did not provide good intelli-
gence during Operation Desert
CONTINUEe
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23 :CIA-RDP99-014488000401660092-1
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23 :CIA-RDP99-014488000401660092-1
Jtilr;;..,nd :~I:I:: .i ~~ ~. FIU~i~ J ~i1U~l at-
tempt o_a~n~t ~?ir.amanian dictator
Gen. ~Iar.uei `~~ ~r;e:;a to 1989 be?
cause of tears .,t ?. iolating U.S. laws.
~Ir. Bush dismissed the criticism,
claiming support from spy agencies
during the Gulf crisis "was superb
and the intelligence was buistanding
and the community performed fan-
tastically." He pledged to visit CIA
headquarters in Langley soon to de-
liver that message in person.
Sources said long shots for Mr.
Webster's job include Deputy CIA
Director Richard Kerr; former
Deputy CIA Director Bobby Ray In-
man, afavorite of Senate Demo-
crass; and Sen. Malcolm Wallop, a
conservative Wyoming Republican
with intelligence experience.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. William
Odom, a former National Security
Agency director, is said to be a can-
didate.
Officials close to the White House
and CIA said the president might
choose an extreme "dark horse"
candidate, possibly a former senator
or another federal judge.
A senior Bush administration of-
ficial said Mr. Gates, who withdrew
his nomination to be CIA director in
1987 in the face of Senate anger over
the Iran-Contra affair, is "on the top
of the short list" of candidates for
the CIA job.
Adr. Gates has held his job as
deputy to Mr. Scowcroft since the
beginning of the Bush administra-
tion. Before taking the White House
jobs, he reportedly told asaociatea he
probably would never get his wish m
run the CIA.
"Don't count him out;' said an-
otheradministration official
Mr. Bush said Mr. Gates is "a wor-
thy man" and "we all have great re-
spect for him."
Sen. William Cohen, Maine Re-
publican and lbrmer~vice chairman
of the Senate Intelligence Commit-
tee, said he would "recommend . -
someonelike Bob Gates" for the job.
Regarding the controversy over
Mr. Gates' security-adviser nomitm-
tion in 1987, in the aftermath of the
Iran-Contra affair, Mr. Cohen said, "I
believe that he would be able to be
confirmed notwithstanding the
questions that were raised at that
time:'
"We were right in the middle of
the Iran-Contra affair, and the emo-
[ions were high. And I think that he
uas not gt~?en fair ur full consider-
ation for the fob chat he had done;'
Mr. Cohen said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch said ~Ir. Webster
was a "class act" who successfully
blocked congressional critics of the
CIA from "tearing it apart" after the
Iran-Contra affair.
The Utah Republican said Mr.
Webster provided excellent support
to "freedom fighter" covert action
programs in Afghanistan, Angola
and other places.
"He was willing to take far more
risks as he became familiar with the
job;' said Mr. Hatch, a former mem-
ber of the Senate Intelligence Com-
mittee.
Mr. Hatch said the CIA chief also
took the bold step of telling Congress
that sanctions alone were not likely
to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
"That took guts;' Mr. Hatch said.
"He took some flak on that, but he
was willing to do it because he knew
it was right:'
Senate Intelligence Committee
Chairman David Boren, Oklahoma
Democrat, said Mr. Webster made
' an immense contribution" to help-
ingrestore public confidence in both
the FBI and CIA.
House Intelligence Committee
Chairman Dave McCurdy, Okla=- ~'
home Democrat, said Mr. Webster's
successor should be "a person with
experience, judgment and great in-
tellectual curiosity and interest in
the world, beyond just the Soviet
Union:'
`WILLIAM H.
EBSTER
horn:
March 6, 1924, in St. Louis.
~Miflyt
INifilj,Lynda. Three children by
first wife: Ekuailla Lane Busch,
William Hedgcock Webster and
Katharine Hagee Roessle.
Ed4eatlon:
Bachelor's degree, Amherst
College, 194T.
Law degree, Washington
University, 1949.
Doctor of laws, Amherst, 1975.
Doctor of laws, Washington
University, 1978.
Caroor hlshll~hb:
Lt. G g.) U.SS Naval Reserve,
1943-46.
Lt. USNR, 1951-52.
Partner law firm, Armstrong,
Teesdale, Kramer and Vaughan,
1956-59 and 1961-70.
U.S. attorney, Eastern District,
Mo., 1980-61.
Member Missouri Board of Law
Examiners, 1964-69.
Jtidg~, U.S. District Court.
E Missouri District,
1871-73.
' Judge, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of
DireCtor~FBlrt9 8-87.
Director CIA, 1987-91. ~
lq.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/23 :CIA-RDP99-014488000401660092-1