Hoover, J. Edgar (1895-1972)

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures related to the contribution of J. Edgar Hoover to the field of criminal Investigations. J. Edgar Hoover was Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 1924 to 1972. In his nearly 50-year career, J. Edgar Hoover became a household name as head of the nation's top law enforcement agency. His innovations included establishing the world's first fingerprint index and crime laboratory (Hack, pp. 12-19).

Discussion & Analysis

American lawyer and politician decisively pushed the FBI, making it a powerful state agency headed remained for nearly fifty years. J. Edgar Hoover studied law at George Washington University, after which he started working in 1917 in the Department of Justice. He was assistant attorney general from 1919 to 1921 and assistant director of the Bureau of Investigation from 1921 to 1924 (Curt, pp. 2-9).

In 1924 he was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation with the order to reorganize and remove corruption. The body (which took the name of Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, in 1935), was established in a police force to pursue criminals across the nation, regardless of frontiers state. J. Edgar Hoover has modernized the institution to become the most powerful global research agency. To this end he founded a school for spies and detectives, the FBI National Academy, and organized an extensive bank of fingerprints, which included hundreds of thousands of people (Athan, pp. 4-7).

In the 1930s the agency witnessed undeniable successes in the fight against gangsterism. Its functions are then extended to the counter and the fight against subversion and social policy, especially during World War II and the Cold War. His eagerness to investigate anyone suspected of committing illegal or subversive activities led him ...