- William L. Webster
William L. Webster (born
September 17 ,1953 ) is an American politician fromMissouri .Early life and career
William Webster is the son of the late
Richard M. Webster , who was a prominent Missouri State Senator and Janet Webster. Webster was born and raised inCarthage, Missouri and was a graduate of Carthage Senior High School. He attended Missouri Southern State College and theUniversity of Kansas . He received his law degree from theUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City .After earning his law degree, Webster worked as an attorney in private practice in
Joplin, Missouri . He married the former Susan Tiemann of Kansas City and they have three sons.Political career
Webster was elected to
Missouri House of Representatives in1980 and re-elected in1982 . He was recognized as the outstanding first term representative by the "Missouri Times" in 1981 and in 1983 his colleagues recognized him as one of three outstanding members of the House of Representatives.In 1984, at the age of 31, he was elected as
Attorney General ofMissouri , succeedingJohn Ashcroft . Webster was the youngest person to serve in that position since Robert Franklin Walker was elected as attorney general in 1892, also at the age of 31. Webster was re-elected in 1988.In
1992 Webster was the Republican nominee for Governor of Missouri, after defeatingRoy Blunt andWendell Bailey in the Republican Primary. The campaign for governor was marked by allegations of corruption relating to a stateworkers compensation fund that Webster managed as attorney general. Amidst the scandal, Webster lost the general election to DemocratMel Carnahan by a wide margin.candal
In 1993, Webster pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges and was sentenced to two years of prison.
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDE113DF934A15757C0A96F948260 Profiles of the Three Advocates in the Appeal (NYT)]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D71531F933A05756C0A965958260 Former Missouri Attorney General to Plead Guilty (NYT)]
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