FBI Directors, 1908-2008

STANLEY W. FINCH
Director
July 26, 1908 - April 30, 1912

Stanley William Finch was born in Monticello, New York, on July 20, 1872. He attended Baker University in Kansas, the Corcoran Scientific School in Washington, D.C., and business colleges in Albany and Washington, D.C. In 1893, he accepted appointment as a clerk in the Department of Justice, where he worked off and on for 40 years. Mr. Finch rose from the position of clerk to that of Chief Examiner between 1893 and 1908. While working in the Justice Department, Mr. Finch earned an LL.B. degree (1908) and an LL.M. degree (1909) from the National University Law School. The Washington D.C. Bar admitted him to practice in 1911.

As Chief Examiner, Mr. Finch advocated the creation of an investigative squad within the Justice Department, eventually becoming its first leader. Attorney General Bonaparte created a Special Agent force in the Department of Justice. Oversight of this newly organized Special Agent force, later named the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), was assigned to Mr. Finch. In 1912, he left the BOI and was named Special Commissioner for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic. In 1913, he became a Special Assistant to the Attorney General. From 1913 to the 1930s, Mr. Finch alternated between private employment -- primarily in the novelty manufacturing business -- and positions in the Department of Justice. Mr. Finch retired from the Department of Justice in 1940 and died in 1951.

 

 

 

Alexander Bruce Bielaski
Director
April 30, 1912 - February 10, 1919

Alexander Bruce Bielaski was born in Montgomery County, Maryland.

He received a law degree from George Washington University in 1904 and joined the Department of Justice (DOJ) that same year. Like his predecessor Mr. Finch, Mr. Bielaski worked his way up through the DOJ. He served as a special examiner in Oklahoma where he "straightened out the court records" and aided in the reorganization of Oklahoma's court system when the Oklahoma territory became a state. Returning to Washington, Mr. Bielaski entered the Bureau of Investigation and rose to become Mr. Finch's assistant. In this position he was in charge of administrative matters for the Bureau. At the end of April 1912, Attorney General Wickersham appointed Mr. Bielaski to replace Mr. Finch. As Chief, Mr. Bielaski oversaw a steady increase in the resources and responsibilities assigned to the Bureau.

After leaving the Bureau in 1919, Mr. Bielaski entered into private law practice. According to The New York Times, while on a trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1921, Mr. Bielaski was kidnapped. He escaped three days later, saving himself and the ten thousand dollars gathered to rescue him.

Mr. Bielaski worked undercover as a prohibition agent operating a decoy speakeasy in New York City. From 1929 to 1959 he headed the National Board of Fire Underwriters team of arson investigators. In 1938, Mr. Bielaski served as President of the Society of Former Special Agents. He died in February 1964, at the age of eighty.

 

WILLIAM J. FLYNN
Director
July 1, 1919 - August 21, 1921

William J. Flynn was born in New York City in 1867. He began his government career in 1897 after a public school education. His first assignment was as an Agent in the United States Secret Service. Mr. Flynn gained recognition in 1911 when he successfully reorganized the New York City Detective force and returned to the Secret Service as Chief. During World War I, Mr. Flynn served as Chief of the United States Railroad Secret Service, investigating threats of sabotage.

In 1919, Mr. Flynn was named Director of the Bureau of Investigation. Attorney General Palmer praised his new appointee as "the leading, organizing detective of America . . . Flynn is an anarchist chaser . . . the greatest anarchist expert in the United States." On September 27, 1921, Mr. Flynn resigned saying he had a "private business matter to accept." Attorney General Harry Daugherty accepted the resignation immediately and appointed William J. Burns to the position.

 

 

WILLIAM J. BURNS
Director
August 22, 1921 - June 14, 1924

William J. Burns was born around 1860 in Baltimore, Maryland, and educated in Columbus, Ohio. As a young man, Mr. Burns performed well as a Secret Service Agent and parleyed his reputation into the William J. Burns International Detective Agency. A combination of good casework and an instinct for publicity made Mr. Burns a national figure. His exploits made national news, the gossip columns of New York newspapers, and the pages of detective magazines, in which he published "true" crime stories based on his exploits. Well qualified to direct the Bureau, and friends with Warren Harding's Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty, Burns was appointed as Director of the Bureau of Investigation on August 22, 1921. Under Mr. Burns, the Bureau shrank from its 1920 high of 1,127 personnel to around 600 three years later. He resigned in 1924 at the request of Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone because of his role in the Teapot Dome Scandal. This scandal involved the secret leasing of naval oil reserve lands to private comanies.

Mr. Burns retired to Florida and published detective and mystery stories based on his long career for several years. He died in Sarasota, Florida, in April 1932.

 

 

JOHN EDGAR HOOVER
Director
May 10, 1924 - May 2, 1972

John Edgar Hoover was born in Washington, D.C., on January 1, 1895. Upon completing high school, he began working at the Library of Congress and attending night classes at George Washington University Law School. In 1916, he was awarded his LL.B. and the next year his LL.M.

Mr. Hoover entered on duty with the Department of Justice on July 26, 1917, and rose quickly in government service. He led the Department's General Intelligence Division (GID) and, in November 1918, he was named Assistant to the Attorney General. When the GID was moved in the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) in 1921, he was named as Assistant Director of the BOI. On May 10, 1924, Attorney General Harlan Fiske Stone appointed the twenty-nine year old Hoover as Acting Director of the BOI and by the end of the year Mr. Hoover was named Director.

As Director, Mr. Hoover put into effect a number of institutional changes to correct criticisms made of his predecessor's administration. Director Hoover fired a number of Agents whom he considered to be political appointees and/or unqualified to be Special Agents. He ordered background checks, interviews, and physical testing for New Agent applicants and he revived the earlier Bureau policies of requiring legal or accounting training.

Under Director Hoover, the Bureau grew in responsibility and importance, becoming an integral part of the national government and an icon in American popular culture. In the 1930s, the FBI attacked the violent crime by gangsters and implemented programs to professionalize United States law enforcement through training and forensic assistance. For example, the Bureau opened its Technical Laboratory to provide forensic analysis on Bureau investigations as well as services to other federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Bureau garnered headlines for its staunch efforts against Nazi and Communist espionage. During World War II, the Bureau took the lead in domestic counterintelligence, counterespionage, and countersabotage investigations. President Roosevelt also tasked the Bureau with running a foreign intelligence service in the Western Hemisphere. This operation was called the Special Intelligence Service or SIS. In the early years of the Cold War, the Bureau took on the added responsibility of investigating the backgrounds of government employees to ensure that foreign agents did not infiltrate the government. More traditional criminal investigations including car thefts, bank robberies, and kidnappings also remained important.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Bureau took on investigations in the field of civil rights and organized crime. The threat of political violence occupied many of the Bureau's resources as did the threat of foreign espionage. In spite of Mr. Hoover's age and length of service, Presidents of both parties made the decision to keep him at the helm of the Bureau. When Mr. Hoover died in his sleep on May 2, 1972, he had led the FBI for 48 years.

 

 

CLARENCE M. KELLEY
Director
July 9, 1973 - February 15, 1978

Mr. Kelley was born on October 24, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1936, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas, and an LL.B. degree from the University of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1940. He was also admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1940.

Mr. Kelley entered on duty with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent on October 7, 1940. He gained extensive experience in many important fields of investigative activity early in his FBI career while he served in field offices in Huntington, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Des Moines, Iowa; and the FBI Training Center, Quantico, Virginia, as a firearms instructor.

He was on military leave from the FBI while serving in the United States Navy from July 22, 1944, to April 9, 1946. Mr. Kelley's service in the Navy included a tour of duty aboard a transport attack ship in the South Pacific.

Mr. Kelley's first assignment after his return from military service during 1946 was in the Kansas City office. Based on his outstanding ability and performance, he was assigned supervisory duties at FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C., in 1951. Later that same year, Mr. Kelley returned to the Kansas City Division as a field supervisor.

During July 1953, he was transferred to the Houston office where he served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge until July 1955, when he was assigned to the Seattle office in the same capacity. In August 1956, Mr. Kelley was moved to the San Francisco field office where he continued his service as Assistant Special in Charge until July 1957.

Following his assignment in San Francisco, Mr. Kelley was transferred to the Training and Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters and shortly thereafter he was designated as an Inspector.

In December 1957, Mr. Kelley was given the assignment of Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham office and in November 1960, he was reassigned to the Memphis office in the same capacity. He served as Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis office until his retirement from the FBI on October 24, 1961.

After his retirement, Mr. Kelley became the Chief of Police in Kansas City, Missouri. During the time he held this position, he was on the Board of Directors of the Boys' Club and the United Fund. He also held membership in the Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Chamber of Commerce; and Rotary International. Mr. Kelley was also on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and was a member of both the Missouri Chiefs of Police Association and the Tennessee and Mississippi Peace Officers Association. He is a past President of the Missouri Peace Officers Association.

In 1970, he received the J. Edgar Hoover Gold Medal for Outstanding Job Service, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was named to the Presidential Advisory Committee, which was headed by former Director Hoover in 1971. Mr. Kelley, in 1972, received the Outstanding Officer of the Year Award, presented by the Metropolitan Chiefs and Sheriffs Association. In addition, Mr. Kelley served on the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals and on the FBI National Academy Review Committee, both during the period 1972-1973. He served as chairman of the Florida Governor's Task Force to Evaluate Public Safety and Related Support Services at the 1972 National Political Convention.

Mr. Kelley was nominated by President Nixon on June 7, 1973, as Director of the FBI. The United States Senate confirmed the President's nomination of Mr. Kelley on June, 27, 1973. He was sworn in as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 9, 1973.

After assuming the Directorship of the FBI, he received numerous honors and awards: the Alumnus of the Year of the Kansas City School of Law at the University of Missouri; the 17th Annual Award from the Society of Professional Investigators; Honorary Trustee of the Boys' Club of Greater Washington; and Honorary Doctor of Laws Degrees from Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas; and, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri.

He became a Life Elder of his church, Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City, on May 4, 1975. On December 17, 1975, Mr. Kelley was elected to the Board of Directors of the Menorah Medical Center Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. In April, 1976, he was elected to a five-year term as Advisory Trustee of the University of Missouri - Kansas City Law Foundation.

Mr. Kelley received the Harry S. Truman Commemorative Good Neighbor Award in May 1976, from the Eddie Jacobson Memorial Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. He participated in the John Findley Green Lecture Series at Westminister College in Fulton, Missouri, in May, 1976, and on that occasion an honorary Doctor of Political Science Degree was conferred upon him.

 

 

WILLIAM H. WEBSTER
Director
February 23, 1978 - May 25, 1987

William H. Webster was born on March 6, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri, and received his early education in Webster Groves near St. Louis. He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1947, where, in 1975, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Judge Webster received his Juris Doctor degree from Washington University Law School, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1949. He served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy in World War II and again in the Korean War.

Judge Webster was a practicing attorney with a St. Louis law firm from 1949 to 1959, and served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1960 to 1961. He returned to private practice in 1961. From 1964 to 1969, he was a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners.

In 1970, Judge Webster was appointed a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and, in 1973, was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He resigned on February 23, 1978, to become Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

During his service on the bench, Judge Webster was Chairman of the Judiciary Conference Advisory Committee on the Criminal Rules and was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Habeas Corpus and the Committee of Court Administration.

Judge Webster was a member of the American Bar Association; the Council of the American Law Institute; the Order of the Coif; the Missouri Bar Integrated; and the Metropolitan St. Louis Bar Association. He also served as Chairman of the Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section of the American Bar Association; and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

He has received many honors from various schools, including: Washington University Alumni Citation for contributions to the field of law; the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington University Law School in 1977; the William Greenleaf Elliot Award from Washington University, May 1981; the Fordham Law School Louis Stein Award, October 1982; the 1986 Thomas Jefferson Award in Law from the University of Virginia; and, honorary degrees from DePauw University; William Woods College; Drury College; Washington University; Columbia College; University of Dayton School of Law; University of Notre Dame; Centre College; Dickinson School of Law; University of Miami; DePaul University; The American University; and, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Washington University, the University of Colorado Law School Board of Visitors, and the National Advisory Board of the American University.

Judge Webster has received other honors and awards, including: Man of the Year, 1980, by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat; the Riot Relief Fund Award in New York City; the August 1983, International Platform Association Theodore Roosevelt Award for excellence in public service; the Jefferson Award for the Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, June 1984; the Freedoms Foundation National Service Medal in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, May 1985; the First Annual Patrick V. Murphy Award from the Police Foundation, Washington, D.C., for distinguished service in law enforcement; and Father of the Year for Public Service in May 1986, by the National Father's Day Committee,

Judge Webster was elected to active membership in the National Academy of Public Administration in October 1981 and, in May 1985, became President of the Institute of Judicial Administration.

 

 

WILLIAM S. SESSIONS
Director
November 2, 1987 - July 19, 1993

William Steele Sessions was born May 27, 1930, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He graduated from Northeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1948, and in 1951 he enlisted in the United States Air Force, receiving his wings and commission in October 1952. Thereafter, he served on active duty until October 1955. In 1956 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, and in 1958 received his LL.B. degree from the Baylor University School of Law.

Judge Sessions was a private practitioner of law in Waco, Texas, from 1958 until 1969, when he left his firm, Haley, Fulbright, Winniford, Sessions, and Bice, to join the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as Chief of the Government Operations Section, Criminal Division. In 1971, he was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas. In 1974, Judge Sessions was appointed United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas, and in 1980 became Chief Judge of that court. He has served on the Board of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, DC, and on committees of both the State Bar of Texas and the Judicial Conference of the United States.

On November 1, 1987, Judge Sessions resigned his position as United States District Judge to become Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was sworn in on November 2, 1987.

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. Judge Sessions was appointed by the President as a Commissioner of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission, and, in November 1991, was elected for a 3-year term as a Delegate for the Americas to the Executive Committee of ICPO-Interpol.

Judge Sessions has received many awards and honors, including: honorary degrees from the John C. Marshall Law School; St. Mary's University; Dickinson School of Law; and Flagler College. He also received the Baylor University Distinguished Alumni Award; the Baylor Law School's "Lawyer of the Year" for 1988; "Father of the Year" for public service by the National Father's Day Committee; the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement; the 1989 Law Enforcement Leadership Award from the Association of Federal Investigators and the DAR Medal of Honor; the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1990; the Good Scout Award; the "Person of the Year" Award from the American Society for Industrial Security; the 1990 Magna Charta Award from the Baronial Order of the Magna Charta; and the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor in 1992.

 

 

LOUIS J. FREEH
Director
September 1, 1993 - June 25, 2001

Louis J. Freeh was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers College in 1971. Director Freeh received a J.D. degree from Rutgers Law School in 1974 and an LL.M. degree in criminal law from New York University Law School in 1984. He was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.

Director Freeh served as an FBI Special Agent from 1975 to 1981 in the New York City Field Office and at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1981, he joined the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York as an Assistant United States Attorney. Subsequently, he held positions there as Chief of the Organized Crime Unit, Deputy United States Attorney, and Associate United States Attorney.

During this time, Director Freeh was the lead prosecutor in the "Pizza Connection" case, the largest and most complex investigation ever undertaken at the time by the United States Government. The case involved an extensive drug-trafficking operation in the United States by Sicilian organized crime members who used pizza parlors as fronts. Following the investigation, Director Freeh served as the federal government's principal courtroom attorney in the 14-month trial and won the conviction of 16 of 17 co-defendants. In 1990, he was appointed a Special Prosecutor by the Attorney General to oversee the investigation into the mail-bomb murders of Federal Judge Robert Vance of Birmingham, Alabama, and civil rights leader Robert Robinson of Savannah, Georgia. This case became known as the VANPAC case. After extensive investigation, a suspect was apprehended, prosecuted, and convicted.

In July 1991, former President George Bush appointed Freeh as United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. While serving in this position he was nominated to be the Director of the FBI by President Clinton on July 20, 1993. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 6, 1993, and was sworn in as Director on September 1, 1993.

In his career as a civil servant, Freeh had been recognized on several occasions for his exemplary accomplishments. In 1987 and 1991, he received the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service, the second highest annual honor given by the Department of Justice. Other commendations include the John Marshall Award for Preparation of Litigation, awarded annually by the Attorney General, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Award.

 

 

Robert S. Mueller, III
Director
September 4, 2001- Present

Robert Mueller was nominated by President George W. Bush and became the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on September 4, 2001.

Born in New York City, Mr. Mueller grew up outside of Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1966 and later earned a master's degree in International Relations at New York University.

After college, he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an officer for three years, leading a rifle platoon of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Following his military service, Mr. Mueller earned a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1973 and served on the Law Review.

After completing his education, Mr. Mueller worked as a litigator in San Francisco until 1976. He then served for 12 years in United States Attorney's Offices, first in the Northern District of California in San Francisco, where he rose to be chief of its criminal division. In 1982, he moved to Boston as an Assistant United States Attorney where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorist, and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers.

After serving as a partner at the Boston law firm of Hill and Barlow, Mr. Mueller returned to public service. In 1989 he served in the United States Department of Justice as an assistant to Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh. The following year he took charge of its Criminal Division. In 1991, he was elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

In 1993, Mr. Mueller became a partner at Boston's Hale and Dorr, specializing in complex white collar crime litigation. He again returned to public service in 1995 as senior litigator in the Homicide Section of the District of Columbia United States Attorney's Office. In 1998, Mr. Mueller was named United States Attorney in San Francisco and held that position until 2001.

Mr. Mueller and his wife, Ann, have two daughters.

 

Source : FBI