Sessions, William Steele, 1930–2020, U.S. government official, b. Fort Smith, Ark. After serving in the U.S. air force (1951–55), he attended Baylor Univ. (B.A. 1956, LL.B. 1958). A Republican, he practised law in Texas before his appointment to the U.S. Dept. of Justice as chief of the government operations section, criminal division (1969–71). He was U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas (1971–74) before serving on the federal bench as a district court judge (1974–80) and chief judge (1980–87) for the Western District of Texas. Appointed director of the FBI by President Reagan in 1987, he oversaw the bureau during a period of increased domestic and foreign terrorism. Sessions modernized the FBI's technology and created a more diverse work force, but the FBI's reputation was damaged by deadly sieges in Ruby Ridge, Idaho (1992), and Waco, Tex. (1993). In 1993, Sessions was dismissed by President Clinton for alleged ethical breaches.
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