Former Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey Jr. died Tuesday at the age of 84.
The Washington Post and the New York Times both reported that his wife, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, noted that a stroke was the cause.
She indicated that her husband had been facing deteriorating health in recent years due to “Havana syndrome,” the Post reported.
“We have traveled the world trying to find a cure and a treatment,” she noted, according to the report, “which sadly we never found.”
As director of central intelligence from 1993 to 1995, Woolsey oversaw the U.S. intelligence community and served as head of the CIA during the first two years of President Bill Clinton’s first term.
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“CIA extends our condolences to the family and loved ones of former Director James Woolsey. He was a great patriot who served his country as Director of Central Intelligence, Undersecretary of the Navy, Ambassador, and attorney,” the CIA noted in social media posts.
Woolsey served as undersecretary of the Navy during a portion of President Jimmy Carter’s White House tenure. He later served as ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe during part of President George H.W. Bush’s term.
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In a Facebook post, the CIA added, “Director Woolsey advocated for the Agency during a time of budget uncertainty and tumult at the end of the Cold War, preserving officer morale and building a relationship between the Intelligence Community and law enforcement. That partnership continues to this day and has enabled some of our greatest successes.”
