The FBI’s Most Controversial Operations: The History of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Notorious Activities in the 20th Century

No single figure in 20th century American history inspires such opposing opinions as J. Edgar Hoover, the iconic first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In his time, he was arguably the most powerful non-elected figure in the federal government. Serving under eight presidents (and outliving two of them), he remains the longest-serving head of a major government office, and Hoover died as he began: a civil servant, having been appointed by the Attorney General and serving at the pleasure of the president. That said, no civil servant had ever accrued to themselves the power and public attention that Hoover did.

To many Americans in mid-20th century, Hoover seemed like a real American hero. In a country suffering from the Great Depression and the crime wave of the early 1930s, Hoover was the symbol of law and order as his “G-Men” used the newest in scientific crime solving methods to bring gangsters like John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson to justice. During World War II, the FBI helped protect a country at war from German and Japanese spies and saboteurs. In the 1950s, at the dawn of the Cold War, Americans saw the FBI leading the charge against Soviet spies and domestic communists who seemed to be undermining the institutions of the country. Many boys across the country wanted to be G-Men, helping Mr. Hoover ferret out anyone who would harm the United States.

Few things have colored Hoover’s reputation quite like COINTELPRO, which has become the FBI’s most notorious operation, one that still has lasting ramifications. From 1956-1971, the FBI waged a secret war in America through a series of projects against groups believed to be potentially subversive, including various people and organizations involved in women’s rights, civil rights, Native American rights, anti-war groups, and even groups that supported animal rights.

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