WASHINGTON — R. James Woolsey died from a stroke at his home in Washington. He was 84.

Woolsey served as CIA director from early 1993 to early 1995. President Bill Clinton appointed Woolsey as CIA director.

Lawmakers pressured Woolsey to cut the CIA budget following the end of the Cold War. He faced criticism for perceived insufficient sanctions against supervisors of Aldrich Ames. Ames was a CIA officer who admitted to being paid $2.5 million by Moscow for U.S. secrets from 1985 until his arrest in 1994.

He said the CIA could not fully protect itself against spies like Aldrich Ames. He said overly strict security measures could lead to "a mood or attitude of paranoia and false accusations" that would further damage morale.

He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Sept. 21, 1941. He graduated from Stanford University and was a Rhodes Scholar. He received his law degree from Yale University.

He began government work in 1970 as a staff member on the National Security Council. He served as an advisor on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki, and Vienna from 1969–1970, focusing on Cold War-era arms control negotiations.

He served as undersecretary of the Navy in the Carter administration. He served as general counsel to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He practiced law at a Washington firm between stints in government work.

President George H.W. Bush appointed him as a special negotiator for talks between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in 1989. He was appointed as a Delegate at Large to the U.S.-Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST) in Geneva from 1983–1986, playing a key role in Cold War arms control diplomacy. He was involved in treaty negotiations with the Soviet Union for five years in the 1980s.

He was instrumental in the 1990 signing of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty under President George H.W. Bush. The agreement between NATO and the Soviet Union aimed to reduce conventional weapons in Europe. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty in 1990.

He served as an adviser on arms control issues to both Republican and Democratic presidents. Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey is the wife of R. Woolsey.

Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey stated that R. Woolsey's health had declined in recent years due to Havana syndrome. Symptoms of Havana syndrome include headaches, balance problems, and difficulties with thinking and sleep. Symptoms of Havana syndrome were first reported in Cuba in 2016.

Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey stated that he began experiencing Havana syndrome symptoms following a 2017 incident in Washington and one in Istanbul in 2018. Woolsey’s wife, Conchita Sarnoff Woolsey, stated that he experienced Havana syndrome symptoms following a 2017 incident in Washington, D.C. and a 2018 incident in Istanbul, though no official medical diagnosis was publicly documented. Conchita Sarnoff he said, "We have traveled the world trying to find a cure and a treatment, which sadly we never found."