How was J. Edgar Hoover able to last that long?

[CamaroGuy]

Hoover lasted as long as he did because of Executive power issued to him by FDR of all people! Roosevelt gave Hoover the broad and almost unlimited powers he enjoyed for the rest of his life. Bottom line is that FDR was "Dr Frankenstein" and Hoover was his monster!

[markg91359]

Originally Posted by X14Freak

The question is in the title but how was J. Edgar Hoover able to last up to 36 years as the head of the FBI? He had a lot of enemies and some like Truman certainly didn't show any fear in sacking popular and powerful people from their offices. I know that he kept blackmail files but I still can't imagine that someone like say Truman or Eisenhower would be intimidated by Hoover's threats. So how was he able to last so long?

Hoover lasted as long as he did for several reasons:

First, its difficult to understand today just how influential a public figure Hoover became. Much of his tenure at the FBI was marked by efforts at self-promotion and much of it was quite successful. There were movies and even television shows that Hoover had to approve that had to show the "Bureau" in a positive light. You might google "The FBI Story" with Jimmy Stewart. There was a t.v. series in the early 1970's known simply as "The FBI". The primary actor is Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. who plays a handsome, intelligent, and resourceful FBI agent who is constantly arresting dangerous criminals. Hoover appears on film to introduce several crime stories that were made into movies.

Hoover is entitled to credit for what he honestly accomplished as FBI Director and a number of his accomplishments were of profound importance. Hoover recreated the image of the "policeman" that existed at the time. Police officers were frequently thought of as big, loud-mouthed people who frequently resorted to guns and clubs to maintain order. Often, they were thought to be "on the take" and this was frequently true in the "Prohibition Era" when Hoover began asserting himself as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hoover essentially "professionalized" police work. He made certain that all FBI agents were college educated. They either had to have degrees in Accounting or Law. They had to dress well and there prohibitions on everything from facial hair to being overweight. Under Hoover, the FBI established a crime lab that was eventually used by every major police department in the country. The crime lab indexed fingerprints, developed expertise in evaluating ballistics evidence, and pioneered other scientific methods of criminal investigation. This caused Hoover to win support from law enforcement officers all over America.

Hoover became a household name and many people believed that the nation was only safe because he was in charge of the FBI.

Second, Hoover's career as FBI Director coincided with an increase in responsibility being given to the federal government. State police forces had difficulties coping with criminals like Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, Baby Faced Nelson, and Alvin Karpis because they skillfully used automobiles and telephones to skirt the limits of state jurisdiction. As such, there was a public hue and cry to do something about these lawbreakers. Congress responded by enacting a series of statutes that gave federal authorities greater power to arrest and prosecute criminals. Any person serving as FBI Director during this period would have experienced an increase in powers and responsibility. Hoover was shrewd enough to exploit the situation and he got appropriations from Congress to greatly expand the FBI.

One law passed during this time made it a federal crime to rob a bank insured by the FDIC. Another law, created a presumption that any kidnapping victim missing for more than 24 hours had been taken across state lines and gave the FBI jurisdiction over the case. Another law prohibited the ownership of fully automatic weapons like the Thompson submachine gun which was frequently used by criminals during robberies. All of this created more need for an FBI than had existed in the past.

In 1942, Nazi Germany landed a group of German saboteurs by submarine on a beach in New Jersey. It was not known at the time, but these men were captured because two of them contacted the FBI and told them what was going on. The FBI than arrested all the men involved. Hoover made it seem like the FBI had caught the men on its own and kept the real truth from coming out for years. However, it was exactly this sort of story that convinced most people that the FBI was critically necessary for national security and that J Edgar Hoover was the man who ought to be in charge of it.

After the war, Hoover was also able to exploit anti-communist hysteria to capture even more power for himself. Actually, the FBI did break the Rosenberg spy case and did a pretty job of convicting the Rosenberg's for espionage.

Third, Hoover kept most important public figures under surveillance by FBI agents and maintained files on most of them. Hoover probably convinced himself that what he was doing was necessary for national security. He kept most of the most sensitive material to himself though and likely used this to blackmail or scare most presidents into keeping him as FBI Director. Hoover hated Robert Kennedy. Kennedy's tenure as Attorney General was marked by great acrimony. RFK wanted Hoover to do a better pursuing organized crime than he was doing. Hoover carried on as though organized crime was a minor problem in the USA.

I'm absolutely convinced President Nixon was scared to death of Hoover. In the early 1970's, Hoover was long past his prime. Yet, Nixon did not fire or dismiss him. Hoover undoubtedly had some serious political dirt on Nixon. What that might be is a matter of speculation. It is not speculation to recall that until he died in his late 70's, Nixon kept Hoover on as FBI Director.

Hoover was a powerful man who committed many abuses of power. He fired agents that he didn't like or whom had a physical appearance that didn't please him. He took public money and FBI resources for use at his own house. He spied on and wiretapped the telephones of many people whom he knew were not involved in any criminal activity. His FBI wrote Martin Luther King a note suggesting that King kill himself under what was called "CointellPro".

It is worth considering what Hoover might have been like if he had been in charge of a police agency in a totalitarian country. He may well have turned into the equivalent of a Heinrich Himmler or a Lavrenti Beria.

[Grandstander]

In additions to the positives listed above by markg91359, we might note that the reason Nixon's "Plumbers" came into being was that Hoover had first been approached with the Hudson Plan and asked to conduct the sort of political espionage latter carried out by Hunt and Liddy. Hoover refused to cooperate, thus Nixon was forced to create his own clandestine unit.

That Hoover could so bluntly refuse the wishes of the President without apparent fear of the consequences, certainly suggests that he held leverage over Nixon.

[mofford]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Plenty of people were labeled as being "soft on communism", it wasn't a death sentence for a political career.


Hoover and the FBI were more interested in actual communists in the government, not just those who were soft on it. The Rosenbergs were actual communists. Ditto for others who were investigated, although some werent, and others were former communists.

There were plenty of folks who spoke out loudly in favor of the Rosenbergs, protesting that they were innocent, they weren't in fear of their lives just because they were angry with the FBI and the director.



What leads me to think that Hoover wasn't gay is the fact that he had so many enemies back in the day, and they were never able to get any proof of this while he was alive.

All things considered, I think Hoover was having a positive effect on the US government and sort of provided an extra safeguard to help curb government corruption. He was watching everybody and everything, doing so as a permanent fixture of the government. I would imagine he prevented a lot of stuff from happening that otherwise would have taken place, bad things that could compromise the integrity of the US government. He could sweep things under the carpet and fix boo boo's that erode public confidence. Hoover died on May 2, 1972, Watergate occurred June 17th, 1972, was it because Hoover was not watching what was going on anymore ? Also, did the government not seem more corrupt before he came to power in the teens and 1920's IE Warren Harding and all the things that went on back then without a strong FBI ?

I think the left has tried to smear him because he was a conservative, and although his relationship with Clyde Tolson looks a bit odd, I'm not really convinced he was gay either. I think he needed someone he could trust completely, one he could get along with as his personal assistant and co-worker, and that was Clyde. I think of it as a Mr. Burns/Smithers relationship but without Smithers (Clyde) being gay. People always speculate that because a man does not date women and does not want to marry, that he is automatically gay. Hoover's personality did not seem to match up with being gay IMO.

I think Hoover would have done an excellent job as director of the CIA, had he had the opportunity to take that position. He wanted the CIA but was turned down. Perhaps he didn't have as much power as what people like to bestow upon him.

[tijlover]

As far as all the spying that was going on, the invasion of privacy, all the files being kept on anyone/everyone, that was eventuality just waiting to happen, eversince the invention of the telephone. So you can't dock Hoover for that, if not him, it would have been someone else!

It wasn't long after its invention, the curiosity was already there, as early as 1900: Wouldn't it be interesting to know what my opponents were saying about me? The dreams were already there, waiting to be materialized!

In the 1920's, the inventions were already in place to tap telephones, the bugging of rooms, the hidden mircrophones, and the invasion of privacy only accelerated under Franklin Roosevelt, and the acceleration of the invasion of our privacy has never stopped.

Snowden, IMO, didn't reveal anything that was new! Only news to the brain-dead!

[wutitiz]

Psst, Wanna Read Your FBI File? Check It Out! - Los Angeles Times

Hoover's name popped up often in the taped conversations that Nixon had with White House counsel John Dean during Watergate. "He has a file on everybody," Nixon told Dean.

Hoover was a master propagandist and master busybody who arguably did more to destroy the American Dream than any other figure in the 20th century.

The FBI penchant for intimidation and telling lies continues on, from Ruby Ridge to Richard Jewell to today.
FBI Impersonated Reporter to Catch a Teen -- NYMag

[texdav]

I was never sure about it either since his enemies said it after he was dead. Same with many things about Hitler. I always saw him as recreated by four years in front lines during WWII. to be more likely. We see now easily German civilians bought into the evil; many of which just suffered after WWI but nothing like front line service.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by tijlover

In the book: When he started working for the BI (before it came the FBI) there were 2 John Edgar Hoover's in Washington DC, at the time, and one was a notorious criminal, so it was suggested to Hoover he drop the ohn from John, and go with J. Edgar Hoover, so he wouldn't get confused with the other!

Now, I'm sure, as J Edgar rose thru the ranks, became famous, the other John Edgar Hoover, perhaps said: "I'll never shorten my name to J Edgar, he's more of a criminal than me! I'm just a bank robber! And? I'm not Gay!"

In the book, it was reported that J. Edgar and Clyde ate lunch together every single day, they traveled everywhere together, went to movies/parties together, and vacationed in La Jolla or Florida.

It's amazing that the populace, at the time, couldn't see through this charade!

Denouncing Hoover at the time, not only would you be suspected of being a communist, but anti-American!

I'm sure anyone who was wreakless enough to try to raise a moral question about Jedger and his friend would have been crushed like a little bug no matter if the reason was real or not, and knew it. When you have the power he did, holding multiple presidents under his thumb, he could make sure to pay them back fully in kind.