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Quick Facts
- NAME: J. Edgar Hoover
- OCCUPATION: Government Official
- BIRTH DATE: January 01, 1895
- DEATH DATE: May 02, 1972
- EDUCATION: George Washington University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Washington, D.C.
- PLACE OF DEATH: Washington, D.C.
- Full Name: John Edgar Hoover
- AKA: John Hoover
Best Known For
As director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover had rabid anti-Communist and anti-subversive views and used unconventional tactics to monitor related activity.
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Play NowJ. Edgar Hoover. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:41, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398.
J. Edgar Hoover. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398 [Accessed 22 May 2013].
"J. Edgar Hoover." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 11:41 http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398.
"J. Edgar Hoover," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398 [accessed May 22, 2013].
"J. Edgar Hoover," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398 (accessed May 22, 2013).
J. Edgar Hoover [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398.
J. Edgar Hoover, http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398 (last visited May 22, 2013).
J. Edgar Hoover. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/j-edgar-hoover-9343398. Accessed May 22, 2013.
Under the COINTELPRO label, Hoover attempted to disband any organizations that were considered subversive, including the Black Panthers, the Socialist Workers Party and the Ku Klux Klan.
Contents
Controversial Tactics
Hoover was renowned for his vendettas, particularly against Martin Luther King, Jr. Naming him "the most dangerous Negro in the future of this nation," Hoover used COINTELPRO to initiate around the clock surveillance on King, hoping to find evidence of communism or sexual deviance. Using an illegal wiretap, Hoover was convinced he had proof of King's infidelitous behavior, and attempted to push reporters into publicizing the recording. The media refused. Instead, Hoover sent the tape directly to King's office, suggesting he commit suicide or face exposure.
COINTELPRO and its tactics remained a secret until it was revealed to the public in 1971. Its exposure resulted in some of the harshest criticism of Hoover and the FBI. Reports revealed that COINTELPRO's methods included infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps, planted evidence, and false rumors. At its worst, some experts say the group also arranged the murders of certain suspects.
Though it is said that Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson each considered firing Hoover during their terms as President, it is also believed that Hoover had so much sensitive information about each leader that they were unable to remove him from office. Hoover also maintained strong support in Congress, possibly due to the intelligence he had gathered about individual politicians, and he remained director under every president from Coolidge to Nixon until his death, on May 2, 1972, in Washington, D.C. The FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. were named after Hoover, but because of the controversial nature of his legacy, there have been several proposals to rename it.
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