Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
| Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the FBI | |
 Flag of the FBI | |
| Federal Bureau of Investigation | |
| Reports to | Attorney General Director of National Intelligence |
| Seat | J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | At the pleasure of the President. (10 years by statute), renewable (only by the Senate) |
| Formation | July 26, 1908 |
| First holder | Stanley Finch |
| Deputy | Deputy Director |
| Website | www.fbi.gov |
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Responsibilities
The director is responsible for the day-to-day operations. Along with the deputy director, the director makes sure cases and operations are handled correctly. The director also is in charge of hiring the leaders in any one of the FBI field offices with qualified agents. The director advised the president on any issues that arose from within the FBI. This was until the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 was enacted in response to the September 11 attacks. Since then, the director reports to the Director of National Intelligence, who in turn reports to the president.[1]
Background
Directors are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.[2][3] In theory, they serve ten-year terms unless they resign, die, or are let go. In reality, none have served a full ten years, except J. Edgar Hoover and Robert Mueller. They both served longer than ten years. J. Edgar Hoover was appointed by Calvin Coolidge to the office in 1924. He was by far the longest-serving director. Hoover held the position from its establishment under the current title in 1935 until his death in 1972 because there was then no law limiting service time. In response to Hoover's lengthy tenure, Congress imposed a term limit of ten years (waived by the Senate for Robert Mueller on July 27, 2011).[4] The current FBI director is Christopher A. Wray, who assumed his position on August 2, 2017.
When the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) was established in 1908, its head was called the Chief of the Bureau of Investigation.[5] It was changed to the Director of the Bureau of Investigation since the term of William J. Flynn (1919–1921), and to its current name when the BOI was renamed FBI in 1935.
List of all directors
| No. | Image | Name | Start | End | Duration | President(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
J. Edgar Hoover | July 1, 1935 | May 2, 1972 | 36 years, 306 days | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) | ||
| Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) | ||||||||
| Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) | ||||||||
| John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) | ||||||||
| Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | ||||||||
| Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | ||||||||
| – | 
|
Clyde Tolson Acting |
May 2, 1972 | May 3, 1972 | 1 day | |||
| – | 
|
L. Patrick Gray Acting |
May 3, 1972 | April 27, 1973 | 359 days | |||
| – | 
|
Bill Ruckelshaus Acting |
April 30, 1973 | July 9, 1973 | 70 days | |||
| 2 | 
|
Clarence M. Kelley | July 9, 1973 | February 15, 1978 | 4 years, 221 days | |||
| Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | ||||||||
| Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | ||||||||
| – | 
|
James B. Adams Acting |
February 15, 1978 | February 23, 1978 | 8 days | |||
| 3 | 
|
Bill Webster | February 23, 1978 | May 25, 1987 | 9 years, 91 days | |||
| Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | ||||||||
| – | 
|
John E. Otto Acting |
May 25, 1987 | November 2, 1987 | 160 days | |||
| 4 | 
|
William S. Sessions | November 2, 1987 | July 19, 1993 | 5 years, 259 days | |||
| George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) | ||||||||
| Bill Clinton (1993–2001) | ||||||||
| – | 
|
Floyd I. Clarke Acting |
July 19, 1993 | September 1, 1993 | 44 days | |||
| 5 | 
|
Louis Freeh | September 1, 1993 | June 25, 2001 | 7 years, 297 days | |||
| George W. Bush (2001–2009) | ||||||||
| – | 
|
Thomas J. Pickard Acting |
June 25, 2001 | September 4, 2001 | 71 days | |||
| 6 | .jpg)
|
Robert Mueller | September 4, 2001 | September 4, 2013 | 12 years, 0 days | |||
| Barack Obama (2009–2017) | ||||||||
| 7 | .jpg)
|
James Comey | September 4, 2013 | May 9, 2017 | 3 years, 247 days | |||
| Donald Trump (2017–2021) | ||||||||
| – | .jpg)
|
Andrew McCabe Acting |
May 9, 2017 | August 2, 2017 | 85 days | |||
| 8 | .jpg)
|
Christopher A. Wray | August 2, 2017 | January 19, 2025 | 7 years, 171 days | |||
| Joe Biden (2021–2025) | ||||||||
| – | .jpg)
|
Paul Abbate Acting |
January 19, 2025 | January 20, 2025 | 1 day | |||
| – | 
|
Brian Driscoll Acting |
January 20, 2025 | February 21, 2025 | 32 days | Donald Trump (2025–present) | ||
| 9 | .jpg)
|
Kash Patel | February 21, 2025 | present | 285 days | |||
Director Of The Federal Bureau Of Investigation Media
Director Robert S. Mueller- III
James Comey official portrait (3x4 cropped)
Chris Wray official photo (3x4 cropped)
Stanley Wellington Finch, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly left
Alexander Bruce Bielaski
Acting Director of the FBI*February 10, 1919 - June 30, 1919
William J. Flynn (cropped)
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References
- ↑ FBI Intelligence Reform Since September 11, 2001: Issues and Options for Congress
- ↑ 28 U.S.C. §532 note. Confirmation and Compensation of Director; Term of Service Legal Information Institute
- ↑ FBI Director: Appointment and Tenure Congressional Research Service
- ↑ Senate Extends Term of F.B.I. Director. New York Times. 2011-07-27. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/28brfs-SENATEEXTEND_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=robertsiiimueller. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
- ↑ "The FBI Director: Background on the Position". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
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