Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

This article is about the real Directors of the FBI. For the criminal who pretends to be the Director of the FBI when sending fraudulent e-mails, see List of e-mail scams.

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
FBI seal
Incumbent Robert Mueller since September 4, 2001
Appointer	Barack Hussein Obama as President
Inaugural holder	Stanley Finch (BOI) J. Edgar Hoover (FBI)
Formation	1908 (as Director of the BOI)
Website	www.fbi.gov

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and responsible for the day-to-day operations. Along with the Deputy Director, the director ensures cases and operations are handled correctly. The director also is in charge of staffing the leadership in any one of the FBI field offices with qualified agents. The director would brief the President on any issues that arise from within the FBI 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.

Directors are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. In theory, they serve ten-year terms unless they resign, die, or are let go before their term is up; in reality, none have served a full ten years, except J. Edgar Hoover and Robert Mueller, each of whom served longer than ten years. J. Edgar Hoover, appointed by Calvin Coolidge, was by far the longest-serving director; he held the position from 1935 until his death in 1972 because there was no law limiting service time. The current FBI director is Robert Mueller, who was appointed in 2001 by George W. Bush and, at the request of Barack Obama, was authorized by the Senate on July 27, 2011, to serve for a total of 12 years (two years beyond the regular limit). All others have left before reaching the limit, due to resignation, retirement, promotion, or other reasons.

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Directors (1908–1935)

#	Picture	Name	Period	Notes
1		Stanley Finch	July 26, 1908 – April 30, 1912
2		A. Bruce Bielaski	April 30, 1912 – February 10, 1919
—		William E. Allen	February 10, 1919 – June 30, 1919	Acting
3		William J. Flynn	July 1, 1919 – August 21, 1921
4		William J. Burns	August 22, 1921 – May 10, 1924
5		J. Edgar Hoover	May 10, 1924 – June 30, 1935

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Directors (1935–present)

#	Picture	Name	Period	Length	Notes
1		J. Edgar Hoover	July 1, 1935 – May 2, 1972	36 years, 10 months	Died at his Washington, D.C., home on May 2, 1972, from a heart attack
—		L. Patrick Gray	May 3, 1972 – April 27, 1973	Acting (11 months)
—		William Ruckelshaus	April 30, 1973 – July 9, 1973	Acting (3 months)
2		Clarence M. Kelley	July 9, 1973 – February 15, 1978	4 years, 6 months
—		James B. Adams	February 15, 1978 – February 23, 1978	Acting
3		William H. Webster	February 23, 1978 – May 25, 1987	9 years, 3 months
—		John E. Otto	May 26, 1987 – November 2, 1987	Acting (7 months)
4		William S. Sessions	November 2, 1987 – July 19, 1993	6 years, 8 months
—		Floyd I. Clarke	July 19, 1993 – September 1, 1993	Acting (2 months)
5		Louis Freeh	September 1, 1993 – June 25, 2001	7 years, 9 months
—		Thomas J. Pickard	June 25, 2001 – September 4, 2001	Acting (3 months)
6		Robert Mueller	September 4, 2001 – Present