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As the director, Sessions sought to improve the public image of the agency and proposed pay increases for the agents. President Reagan appointed him as a commissioner of the  new holiday in honor of [[civil rights]] martyr, [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] Though a [[Republican Party|Republican]], his nonpartisan stance in office was often at odds with more  [[conservative]] members of his own party. Sessions had an uneasy relationship with Attorneys General [[Richard Thornburgh]] and [[William Barr]], who filled the office at the end of the first term of President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] and returned nearly three decades later as attorney general in the [[Donald Trump]] administration. Sessions' strongest support came from [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] when he supported [[affirmative action]] to boost the number of minority FBI agents.<ref name=death>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/William-Sessions-FBI-head-fired-by-President-15337421.php|title=William Sessions, FBI head fired by President Clinton, dies|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|date=June 13, 2020|accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref> He also automated the FBI fingerprints office.<re>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211352749/william-steele-sessions|title=William Steele Sessions|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

As the director, Sessions sought to improve the public image of the agency and proposed pay increases for the agents. President Reagan appointed him as a commissioner of the  new holiday in honor of [[civil rights]] martyr, [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] Though a [[Republican Party|Republican]], his nonpartisan stance in office was often at odds with more  [[conservative]] members of his own party. Sessions had an uneasy relationship with Attorneys General [[Richard Thornburgh]] and [[William Barr]], who filled the office at the end of the first term of President [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] and returned nearly three decades later as attorney general in the [[Donald Trump]] administration. Sessions' strongest support came from [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democrats]] when he supported [[affirmative action]] to boost the number of minority FBI agents.<ref name=death>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/William-Sessions-FBI-head-fired-by-President-15337421.php|title=William Sessions, FBI head fired by President Clinton, dies|publisher=''The Laredo Morning Times''|date=June 13, 2020|accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref> He also automated the FBI fingerprints office.<re>{{cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/211352749/william-steele-sessions|title=William Steele Sessions|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref>

Sessions was FBI director during the 1992 massacre at [[Ruby Ridge]], [[Idaho]], at which the unarmed Vicky Weaver and her infant son were shot dead by a confused FBI sniper. The agents were after [[Randy Weaver]], whom they alleged had tried to sell a sawed-off shotgun to an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The next year, the FBI launched a 51-day siege of Ruby Ridge encouraged by the administration of Bill Clinton which ended with deadly assault of more than eighty Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.<ref name=Danner>{{cite web|title=Former FBI director, wife call off San Antonio divorce|url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Former-FBI-director-wife-call-off-San-Antonio-14562868.php|date=October 25, 2019|accessdate=June 20, 2020|author=Patrick Danner|publisher=''The San Antonio Express-News''}}</ref>​

Sessions was FBI director during the 1992 massacre at [[Ruby Ridge]], [[Idaho]], at which the unarmed Vicky Weaver and her infant son were shot dead by a confused FBI sniper. The agents were after Randall Claude "Randy" Weaver (born 1948), whom they alleged had tried to sell a sawed-off shotgun to an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Weaver subsequently received more than $3 million in settlement for the wrongful deaths of his wife and son. The next year, the FBI launched a 51-day siege of Ruby Ridge encouraged by the administration of Bill Clinton which ended with deadly assault of more than eighty Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.<ref name=Danner>{{cite web|title=Former FBI director, wife call off San Antonio divorce|url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Former-FBI-director-wife-call-off-San-Antonio-14562868.php|date=October 25, 2019|accessdate=June 20, 2020|author=Patrick Danner|publisher=''The San Antonio Express-News''}}</ref>​

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Clinton then claimed that Sessions had engaged in ethical improprieties, such as using an FBI airplane to visit his daughter on more than one occasion, and errors in judgment. Clinton asked for his resignation. When Sessions refused to leave on grounds that he had done nothing wrong, Clinton fired him. He had served just over half of his 10-year appoin ted term.<ref name="Time's Up for William Sessions">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/22/opinion/time-s-up-for-william-sessions.html |publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|title=Time's Up for William Sessions|date=January 22, 1993| accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref>​

Clinton then claimed that Sessions had engaged in ethical improprieties, such as using an FBI airplane to visit his daughter on more than one occasion, and errors in judgment. Clinton asked for his resignation. When Sessions refused to leave on grounds that he had done nothing wrong, Clinton fired him. He had served just over half of his 10-year appoin ted term.<ref name="Time's Up for William Sessions">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/22/opinion/time-s-up-for-william-sessions.html |publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|title=Time's Up for William Sessions|date=January 22, 1993| accessdate=June 20, 2020}}</ref>​