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In 1974,  Nixon's successor,  [[Gerald Ford]], nominated Sessions to a seat on the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas].  He was Chief Judge of the court from 1980 to 1987.<ref name=fjc/> President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated Sessions to succeed William Hedgcock  Webster (born 1924 in [[St. Louis]], Missouri) as FBI Director. He was sworn into office on November 2, 1987.<ref name=fjc/>  

In 1974,  Nixon's successor,  [[Gerald Ford]], nominated Sessions to a seat on the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas].  He was Chief Judge of the court from 1980 to 1987.<ref name=fjc/> President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated Sessions to succeed William Hedgcock  Webster (born 1924 in [[St. Louis]], Missouri) as FBI Director. He was sworn into office on November 2, 1987.<ref name=fjc/>  

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.<ref>{{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 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>​

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>​