William H. Webster
Speaker: William Webster, FBI Director; Director of Central Intelligence
Date: 8/21/2002
Description:
William Webster details his fourteen years of work atop both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency under Presidents Carter, Reagan and Bush. Webster gives a general survey of the intelligence community and covert operations during the Reagan years, and his relationship with William Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence for the first six years of the Reagan administration. He discusses the role of the intelligence services in counterterrorism efforts and in places such as Afghanistan, Libya, and Panama. He then talks about the Bush administration's decision to retain him as DCI and the major events that occurred during these three years. He examines intelligence policy during the crackdown in China's Tiananmen Square, the collapse of the Eastern bloc and the Soviet Union, and the 1991 Gulf War. Finally, Webster gives a broad comparison of the Reagan and Bush years – the issues facing each administration, the differing organizational structures, and the contrasting personality and style of the two leaders.
