What better way to launch a crime blog than to acknowledge the birth of the man who founded the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was, and remains, a controversial figure. He ran the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1935 until his death in 1972. He stands as a prime example of someone with too much power holding a job for far too long. For that reason, FBI directors are now limited to terms of only ten years.
Appropriately, Hoover was born and raised in Washington, DC. He received his law degree from George Washington University in 1917. During World War I, he started working for the Justice Department. Soon afterwards, he began his rise in the Bureau of Investigation, where he was eventually appointed director by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In March of 1935, he became the first director of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Hoover made his bones during the early 1930s when an unprecedented crime wave stormed the midwest. Gangsters and bank robbers such as John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, and Bonnie and Clyde were grabbing headlines and making the law look foolish. Because these outlaws frequently took stolen cars across state lines, Hoover was able to establish the authority to pursue them. At first his agents were responsible for a number of embarrassing screw-ups, but eventually superior training and investigative techniques won out, and Hoover's "G-Men" became the model for law enforcement.
Over the years, Hoover built up a reputation for his strong-arm tactics, particularly in building a library of secret files on people he considered possibly dangerous, from political leaders to entertainers such as Charlie Chaplin and John Lennon. It has also been long suspected that Hoover was gay, and used these secret files to protect his sexual identity. While he had a long-standing relationship with associate director Clyde Tolson (who inherited Hoover's estate), the exact nature of their relationship has never been definitely proven. Presidents Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson all considered removing Hoover from office, but each determined that it wouldn't be politically wise to do so.
Hoover died on May 2, 1972, finally ending his reign as FBI director. President Nixon named the FBI headquarters (the "J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building") in his honor two days after his death.
READ MORE: Wikipedia
ON FILM: Public Enemies
NOTE: Clint Eastwood is prepping a film on the life of Hoover (possibly starring Leonardo DiCaprio) for release in 2012.
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