Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

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.

When the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) was established in 1908, its head was called the Chief of the Bureau of Investigation. 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.