Meet William M. Webster, IV and some of his thoughts: Billy Webster has served the public by fighting for voting rights, educational opportunity and quality healthcare. As a White House Fellow, Billy Webster was appointed by President George H. W. Bush as an Assistant to the Administrator, Agency For International Development. From there, he served as Chief of Staff of Presidential Personnel during President Clintons transition, Chief of Staff at the United States Department of Education and Assistant to the President, Director of Scheduling and Advance for President Bill Clinton.
William M. Webster is a American business leader & entrepreneur that has served in government at the highest levels and is active in community and philanthropic endeavors. When he was a junior at Washington and Lee, Billy Webster, of the Class of 1979, ran in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. As it turns out, he was just getting warmed up. Currently chairman of the board of the Greenville (S.C.) Health System, Billy said he has no plans to slow down: “I’m going to run until I can’t do it anymore, and after that I guess I’ll still walk.” When Billy Webster runs in the Paris Marathon, he will be joined by two other Washington and Lee alumni: Rob George, a member of the Class of 2011 from New York, and Matt Gossett, of the Class of 2012 from Atlanta.
William M. Webster IV announced he had donated funds to The Nature Conservancy of South Carolina (TNC), before delivering a prepared address to the conservancy board and audience at this year’s fall meeting. From Billy Webster’s address to TNC: “Thank you for what you do and how you make a difference in our communities. I find it easy to be totally overwhelmed by the vastness and complexity of our environment and the health of the natural world. It is hard enough to get at the truth even without the gopher holes of fake news and manipulated video. The global issues seem too big to comprehend – unprecedented population growth and climate change. And how does S.C. fit in to those issues? How do we as individuals fit in? Most of us just see seemingly isolated but disturbing dots – small tears in the fabric of the natural world …”
Responsible for oversight of Department of Education management ($32 billion budget, 5,000 employees); political liaison to the White House; advisor to the Secretary on general education policy matters. Responsible for coordination and planning of all Presidential events: responsible for all Presidential meetings and briefings and for supervision and coordination of all Presidential travel. Management responsibility of staff of 25 full-time and 300 part-time employees. Read additional details at William M. Webster.
William M. Webster, IV, 62, is co-founder and CEO of Advance America Cash Advance Centers, the rapidly growing Spartanburg-based company that celebrated its eighth anniversary Friday. As of last month, the company operated 2,595 stores in 35 states, and the number of stores continues to grow. In the first quarter of this year, Advance America made 2.6 million payday loans; its net income of $19.7 million was up 31 percent over last year. The Greenville native’s road to Spartanburg has been filled with ambitious jobs and achievements, any one of which might qualify for “career pinnacle” status. He’s held several high-profile Washington jobs — for a year in the mid-1990s, he was in charge of coordinating President Clinton’s schedule, from major events to daily exercise. Before that, Webster was president of Greenville-based Carabo Inc., the largest franchisee of Bojangles restaurants.