The Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (formerly known as the Associate Director) is a senior United States government position in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The office is second in command to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If the director is absent or the position is vacant, the deputy director automatically takes on the additional title and role of acting director. The office is also the highest position attainable within the FBI without being appointed by the President of the United States. Responsibilities as deputy director include assisting the director and leading prominent investigations. All other FBI executives and special agents in charge report to the director through the deputy director. From 1978 to 1987, the position of deputy director was not filled due to William Hedgcock Webster's decision to divide the deputy's responsibility between three positions.
| Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the FBI | |
 Flag of the FBI | |
 | |
| Reports to | Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| Appointer | Director of the FBI |
| Inaugural holder | Clyde Tolson (BOI) |
| Formation | 1930 (as Associate Director) |
| Deputy | Associate Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation |
Paul Abbate, former associate deputy director of the FBI, was named deputy director on February 1, 2021.
Deputy directors
edit| No. | Portrait | Officeholder | Director | President | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||
| 1 | 
|
Clyde Tolson | J. Edgar Hoover | Herbert Hoover | 1930 | May 2, 1972 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||||||
| Harry S. Truman | ||||||
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | ||||||
| John F. Kennedy | ||||||
| Lyndon B. Johnson | ||||||
| Richard Nixon | ||||||
| 2 | 
|
Mark Felt | Vacant | Richard Nixon | May 3, 1972 | June 22, 1973 |
| 3 | 
|
James B. Adams | Clarence M. Kelley | Richard Nixon | June 22, 1973 | February 5, 1978 |
| Gerald Ford | ||||||
| Jimmy Carter | ||||||
| 4 | William H. Webster | April 6, 1978 | May 11, 1979 | |||
| 5 | 
|
Floyd I. Clarke | May 11, 1979 | July 19, 1993 | ||
| Ronald Reagan | ||||||
| William S. Sessions | George H. W. Bush | |||||
| Bill Clinton | ||||||
| 6 | David G. Binney | Louis Freeh | February 1994 | December 1994 | ||
| — | Larry A. Potts | February 1995 | May 2, 1995 | |||
| 7 | May 2, 1995 | July 14, 1995 | ||||
| 8 | Weldon L. Kennedy | August 8, 1995 | February 1997 | |||
| 9 | William J. Esposito | February 28, 1997 | September 30, 1997[1] | |||
| 10 | Robert M. Bryant[2] | October 1,1997 | October 31, 1999 | |||
| 11 | 
|
Thomas J. Pickard | November 1, 1999 | November 30, 2001[3] | ||
| Thomas J. Pickard | Robert Mueller | George W. Bush | ||||
| 12 | Bruce J. Gebhardt | 2002 | 2004 | |||
| 13 | 
|
John S. Pistole | October 1, 2004 | May 17, 2010 | ||
| Barack Obama | ||||||
| 14 | 
|
Timothy P. Murphy | July 8, 2010 | August 31, 2011 | ||
| 15 | 
|
Sean M. Joyce | September 1, 2011 | November 30, 2013 | ||
| James Comey | ||||||
| 16 | 
|
Mark F. Giuliano | December 1, 2013 | February 1, 2016 | ||
| 17 | 
|
Andrew McCabe | February 1, 2016[4] | January 29, 2018[5] | ||
| Donald Trump | ||||||
| Christopher A. Wray | ||||||
| 18 | 
|
David Bowdich | January 30, 2018 | February 1, 2021 | ||
| Joe Biden | ||||||
| 19 |
|
Paul Abbate | February 1, 2021 | Incumbent | ||
Fictional deputy directors
edit- Alvin Kersh, the deputy director of the FBI on The X-Files.
- Avery Ryan, the deputy director of the FBI and the director of the FBI's Cyber division. She is the protagonist of CSI: Cyber.
- Miranda Shaw, the deputy director of the FBI on Quantico.
- Owen Hall, the deputy director of the FBI on Quantico.
- Gordon Cole, the deputy director of the FBI on Twin Peaks.
- Victor Fitzgerald, deputy director of the FBI on Without a Trace.
- Jason Atwood, the deputy director of the FBI on Designated Survivor.
- Douglas Bailey, the deputy director of the FBI on Criminal Minds.
- Harold Cooper, the deputy director of the FBI on The Blacklist.
References
edit- ^ Johnston, David (September 11, 1997). "No. 2 Man at F.B.I., Important Manager, Retires This Month". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20 - ROBERT M. BRYANT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FED". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ "FBI Deputy Director Thomas J. Pickard Announces his Retirement" (Press release). FBI. Archived from the original on May 22, 2007. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
- ^ "Andrew G. McCabe Named Deputy Director of the FBI" (Press release). Federal Bureau of Investigation. January 29, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
- ^ Pramuk, Jacob (January 29, 2018). "FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, frequent target of Trump's ire, steps down: NBC News". CNBC. Retrieved January 29, 2018.