Billy Webster Spotlight

William M. “Billy” Webster IV, a native of South Carolina, came to the White House in 1992 during the George H.W. Bush administration as a White House Fellow. The White House Fellowship Program gives presidentially-appointed individuals the opportunity to serve for one year as full-time employees of the Federal Government; typically working within the Executive Branch. Before his White House Fellowship, Webster served as president of Carabo, Inc., the largest franchisee of Bojangles Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits restaurant chain. As a White House Fellow, Webster served in the Presidential Transition Team’s Personnel Office. Serving as the Chief of Staff to then South Carolina Governor, Richard Riley, Webster assisted Riley with selecting candidates for presidential appointed positions for the incoming Clinton Administration. After Riley was appointed to the U.S. Secretary of Education, Webster continued to serve as his Chief of Staff. Reflecting on his time in the White House Fellowship Program in a 1993 roundtable interview with C-SPAN, Webster said that his most memorable moment came, while working in the presidential transition office of personnel, when President Clinton said to then Governor Riley, “I don’t care who you pick to work [in the administration], as long as they have changed people's lives.”

After leaving Secretary Riley’s Office, Webster had planned to return to his life outside of Washington D.C. However, before leaving the White House, President Clinton invited Webster for a morning run, and during the run invited Webster to join his staff as the Director of Scheduling. The Office of Scheduling and Advance was responsible for the planning, organization, and implementation of the President's daily and long-range schedules. All requests for appointments, meetings, or time with the President were directed through this office. In addition to scheduling the President's time, this office was responsible for the design and structure of activities at each location outside the White House complex that the President and First Lady visited.

As director of Scheduling and Advance he worked with President Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles to build a new system to more clearly organize the President’s daily schedule. Webster and Bowles created a new color coded block schedule that was intended to create an environment that reflected the day’s message. Events were scheduled in relation to color coded topics (green for economic issues, red for political issues, etc.). As the head of the Office of Scheduling and Advance, Webster was also responsible for planning and organizing the President’s and support staff’s travel to other countries. His first assignment as the director was to organize President Clinton’s Middle East Tour in October of 1994. Webster had only eight days to organize a trip to six countries that included travel to the border between Israel and Jordan for the historic signing ceremony for the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty. Webster served as the director of Scheduling and Advance until 1995 when he returned to the private sector.