How J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's first and longest director of the FBI, used controversial methods to turn the agency into one of the most efficient investigative forces in the world

Mon, 08/21/2023 - 12:38

J. Edgar Hoover is seen speaking during a convention of former special agents in Washington, DC.
Bob Daugherty/AP

J. Edgar Hoover took over the FBI, then known as the Bureau of Investigation in 1924 when he was 29 years old.
At first, agents couldn't carry weapons and reported suspects to other law officials. Hoover changed all that.
He later used the bureau to gather information on influential people like John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Edgar Hoover ran the FBI For 48 years, serving under eight different presidents. Hoover turned the agency from a relatively powerless group into one of the most efficient investigative forces in the world.