He warned us, now he's gone [View all]

It shouldn’t really be a surprise when a centenarian dies. Yet, for the few I’ve known personally, the math and logic behind the short time they have left has collided with the magical thinking that they may live forever — after all, they’ve outlived just about everyone else!

That’s how I felt about my friend William Webster — the only person to serve as both Director of the CIA and Director of the FBI, among many other important roles appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents — who died yesterday (Friday, August 8, 2025) at the age of 101.

Many long-form obituaries have already been written (here is a gift link to the one in the New York Times), so I will not attempt to do that here. But I did notice, what to me is, a glaring omission: In early 2025, his final act of public service was working tirelessly to warn Senators not to confirm Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard to be Directors of the FBI and National Intelligence, respectively.

Together, we attended a confirmation hearing and wrote many letters to each Senator, imploring them to protect our federal law enforcement and intelligence communities from leaders seeking a president’s retribution.

https://www.brightamerica.org/p/he-warned-us-now-hes-gone