Hoover, J. Edgar 1895-1972

FBI DIRECTOR

The Director.

The FBI established itself in the 1930s as the nation's premier police force and in doing so changed forever the public's view of professional law enforcement. It did more than that, of course. Through its vaunted centralized crime records section, its crime lab, its training academy, and other services, the bureau became an important resource for police departments across the country, setting standards and providing a model sorely needed in some areas of the nation. That all of this was due in great part to a single man was as much a reflection of the times as it was a measure of Hoover's control over an agency that played the principal role in establishing the federal government's moral leadership in suppressing crime. Hoover was as much criticized for his obsession with the bureau's image and his insatiable appetite for publicity as he was for his claim of invincibility. These traits...

[The entire page is 1073 words long]

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