Former CIA chief James Woolsey dies at 84 after a storied career

James Woolsey, the former director of central intelligence who served from 1993 until his resignation in 1995, died on July 21 at his residence in Washington at the age of 84. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he earned degrees from Stanford, Oxford and Yale before holding senior roles under four presidents, including undersecretary of the Navy under Jimmy Carter and arms-control negotiator under Ronald Reagan. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Woolsey’s time at the CIA was hampered by a lack of direct contact with the president and the discovery of Aldrich Ames’s long-running espionage for Moscow.

He chose not to fire officials amid calls for a purge, a decision that eroded his political support and led to his departure. In later years, Woolsey warned that Islamist terrorism, not great-power rivalry, defined the new security landscape, supported the 2003 Iraq war, and championed U.S. energy independence. He advised both John McCain’s 2008 campaign and Donald Trump’s 2016 transition before severing ties over attacks on the intelligence community.