J. Edgar Hoover
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John Edgar Hoover KBE (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was the founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its present form and its director from May 10, 1924, until his death in 1972. Hoover was appointed acting director of the FBI by President Calvin Coolidge to reform and clean up the bureau, which was considered a haven for corruption. During his tenure, Hoover attained extraordinary power and unusual discretionary authority, while also feuding with many adversaries. It is because of Hoover that, since his tenure, FBI directors have been limited to ten-year terms.
Hoover is credited with creating an effective law enforcement organization but has frequently been accused of exceeding and abusing his authority in blackmailing notable public figures and engaging in unwarranted political persecution. Hoover's COINTELPRO program allowed FBI agents to disrupt organizations such as the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King Jr.'s SCLC, and the Ku Klux Klan using methods including infiltration, legal harassment, violence, and murder (Fred Hampton, Zayd Shakur, and Mark Clark). Hoover habitually fired FBI agents, either randomly or by singling out those who "looked stupid like truck drivers" or had "pointy heads." He was also notorious for relocating agents who had displeased him, such as Melvin Purvis, to career-ending jobs in cities with little need for an FBI presence. Despite this, Hoover was also known to be a supporter of civil rights and liberties on several occasions, most notably for his vocal opposition to the mass internment of Japanese-Americans that took place during World War II.
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