Transcript J. Edgar Hoover 1895-1972

J. Edgar Hoover
1895-1972
Background
• Born January 1, 1895 in Washington, D. C.
• Parents: Dickerson and Anna Hoover
• Hoover did not obtain a birth certificate until he
was 43, which fueled suspicions, in and out of
the bureau, that he was of African-American
descent – a family out of Mississippi tried to
prove these allegations, but failed.
• He kept detailed records on himself, teachers,
and family members starting at a young age.
• At age 11, started his own newspaper, The
Weekly Review, that he sold to family and
friends for 1 cent.
Background continued…
• His school nickname was “Speed”
because he thought fast and talked fast.
• Hoover’s father, Dickerson, spent the last
eight years of his life in an asylum. His
cause of death was listed as “melancholia”
– clinical depression.
• 1916 – graduated with a law degree from
George Washington University Law
School.
• Hoover became a Freemason in 1920.
Background continued…
• Hoover’s failure to marry
and his constant
companionship with
Clyde Tolson, led to
many rumors about his
sexuality.
• Clyde Tolson was the
sole heir to Hoover’s
estate and was also
buried next to Hoover.
• Hoover was also an avid
dog lover.
Head of the FBI
• Hoover joined the Bureau of Investigation, later
known as the FBI, in 1921.
• In 1924 at the age of 29, Hoover was appointed
acting Director of the BOI and by the end of the
year he was officially named Director.
• Hoover remained the Director of the FBI until his
death on May 2, 1972 at the age of 77.
• The FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. is
named after Hoover. Because of the controversial
nature of Hoover's legacy, there have been
periodic proposals to rename it.
Head of the FBI
• During his reign over the FBI, Hoover built an
efficient crime-detection agency, established a
centralized fingerprint file, a crime laboratory
and a training institution for police.
• He dictated every aspect of his agents’ lives
from who their friends should or should not be,
who they should or should not marry, what
organizations they could or could not join;
decided where they would live; monitored their
morals; even told them what to wear and what
they could weigh; and bestowed praise and
awards, blame and punishments, when he
decided they were due.
Head of the FBI
• The FBI, under Hoover, collected information on all
America's leading politicians. Known as Hoover's
secret files, this material was used to influence their
actions. It was later claimed that Hoover used this
incriminating material to make sure that the eight
presidents that he served under, would be too
frightened to sack him as director of the FBI..“
• Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and
Lyndon Johnson each considered firing Hoover but
concluded that the political cost of doing so would
be too great. Richard Nixon twice called in Hoover
with the intent of firing him, but both times he
changed his mind when meeting with Hoover.
Head of the FBI
• Hoover ignored the existence of organized crime in
the U.S. until famed muckraker Jack Anderson
exposed the immense scope of the Mafia's organized
crime network. It has been suggested that Hoover did
not pursue the Mafia because they had incriminating
evidence (photos) against him in respect to his sexual
orientation.
• Despite all of these allegations, during his long career
of public service, Director Hoover received three
presidential awards, sundry citations by Congress,
and following his death was the first civil servant in
U.S. history to lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S.
Capitol.
Political Views
•
•
•
•
Conservative
Anti-communist
Against suffrage for women
Opposed the Civil Rights movement
Major Issues of the Time
•
•
•
•
•
1st Red Scare (1917-1920)
Espionage Act of 1917
Sedition Act of 1918
The Palmer Raids
House Committee on Un-American
Activities
• WW II
• Iron Curtain in Europe
"Uncle Sam bids good riddance
to the deportees"
(from J. Edgar Hoover's
memorabilia and scrapbook
in the National Archives).
• The more famous of
the Palmer raids was
December 21, in
which 249 people
were dragged from
their homes, forcibly
put on board a ship
and deported.
Intended Audience
• Hoover delivered “The Communist
Menace” before the House Committee on
Un-American Activities on March 26, 1947.
The Communist Menace
Main Points
1. The Communist Party of the United
States intends to destroy the American
businessman, take over our government,
and throw the whole world into
revolution.
 “The Communist movement in the United
States…stands for the destruction of free
enterprise, and it stands for the creation of a
“Soviet of the United States” and ultimate
world revolution.”
The Communist Menace
Main Points continued…
2. The American programs to help society such
as, social security, veterans’ benefits, and
welfare are all communist ideas used to lure
the support of unsuspecting citizens.
“The American progress which all good citizens
seek, such as old-age security, houses for
veterans, child assistance and a host of others is
being adopted as window dressing by the
Communists to conceal their true aims and
entrap gullible followers.”
The Communist Menace
Main Points continued…
3. The greatest threat of communism is not how many Communists are
in this country, but their ability to insert themselves into positions
of power and their ability to persuade through lies and deception.
Americans should FEAR the communist infiltration of their
government and society.

“What is important is the claim of the Communists themselves
that for every party member there are 10 others ready, willing,
and able to do the party’s work. Herein lies the greatest
menace of communism. For these people who infiltrate and
corrupt various spheres of American life. So rather than the
size of the Communist Party the way to weigh its true
importance is by testing its influence, its ability to infiltrate.”

“…When the Communists overthrew the Russian government
there was one Communist for every 2,277 persons in Russia.
In the United States today there is one Communist for every
1,814 persons in the country…”
Historical Significance
• 2nd Red Scare (1947-1957)
• 1947 - Ronald Reagan and wife Jane Wyman provide to
the FBI names of SAG members believed to be
communist sympathizers.
• 1947 - Top Hollywood executives decide not to employ
individuals who refused to answer questions about
communist infiltration of the film industry
• McCarthyism starts(1950): Sen. Joseph P. McCarthy
says he has a list of 205 communists in the State
Department.
• 1950 - California Legislature passes a bill requiring state
employees to sign a loyalty oath.
• 1953 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted of
conspiring to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet
Union, are executed.