Born January 1, 1895 Washington, D.C.

Died May 2, 1972 Washington, D.C.

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

J. Edgar Hoover. ©Bettmann/CORBIS. Reproduced by permission.

"Hoover directed the Bureau [Federal Bureau of Investigation] so long that he seemed fixed in the political landscape of Washington. The grim scowl was that of a man who had seen all evil, heard all evil, and could be counted on to warn of any evil that would put the nation in danger."

Richard Gid Powers in Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover first joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a law clerk in 1917, rising to director of the Department's Bureau of Investigation (later the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) by 1924. He would remain in that position for the next forty-eight years until his death in 1972, serving under both Democratic...