1908 Office of the Chief Examiner
(future FBI). ^top^
The Office of the Chief Examiner, an organization
that would later become the Bureau of Investigation and then the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is created by US Attorney General Charles
J. Bonaparte. Meant to serve as the investigative arm of the Department
of Justice, the Bureau of Investigation was initially opposed by Congress,
who feared that its extensive powers could lead to abuse of power. During
and after World War I, the Bureau investigated draft resisters, violators
of the Espionage Act of 1917, and immigrants suspected of radicalism.
J. Edgar Hoover, a lawyer and former librarian,
joined the Department of Justice in 1917, and within two years had become
special assistant to Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Deeply anti-radical
in his ideology, Hoover came to the forefront of federal law enforcement
during the so-called "Red Scare" of 1919 to 1920. Hoover set up a card index
system listing every radical leader, organization, and publication in the
United States, and by 1921 had amassed some 450'000 files. More than ten
thousand suspected Communists were also arrested during this period, although
the vast majority of these people were briefly questioned and then released.
Although the attorney general was criticized for abusing his authority during
the so-called "Palmer Raids," Hoover emerged unscathed, and on 10 May 1924,
was appointed acting director of the Bureau of Investigation.
During the 1920s, with congressional approval, Director Hoover drastically
restructured and expanded the Bureau. He built the corruption-ridden agency
into an efficient crime-fighting machine, establishing a centralized fingerprint
file, a crime laboratory, and a training school for agents. In the 1930s,
the Bureau of Investigation launched a dramatic battle against the epidemic
of organized crime brought on by Prohibition. Notorious gangsters such as
George "Machine Gun" Kelly and John Dillinger met their ends looking down
the barrels of Bureau-issued guns, while others, like Louis "Lepke" Buchalter,
the elusive head of Murder, Incorporated, were successfully investigated
and prosecuted by Hoover's "G-men." Hoover, who had a keen eye for public
relations, participated himself in a number of these widely publicized arrests,
and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, as it was known after 1935, was
highly regarded by Congress and the US public.
With the outbreak of World War II, Hoover revived his anti-espionage techniques
developed during the first Red Scare, and domestic wiretaps and other electronic
surveillance expanded dramatically. After World War II, Hoover focused on
the threat of radical, especially Communist, subversion. The FBI compiled
files on millions of US citizens suspected of dissident activity, and Hoover
worked closely with the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator
Joseph McCarthy, the architect of America's second Red Scare.
In 1956, Hoover initiated COINTELPRO, a secret counter-intelligence program
that initially targeted the US Communist Party but later was expanded to
infiltrate and disrupt any radical organization in America. During the 1960s,
the immense resources of COINTELPRO were used against dangerous groups such
as the Ku Klux Klan, but also against African-American civil rights organizations
and liberal anti-war organizations. One figure especially targeted was civil
rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who endured systematic harassment
from the FBI, including the leaking of sensitive information gathered by
the FBI to his enemies in Memphis, Tennessee, and elsewhere.
By the time Hoover entered service under his eighth president in 1969, the
media, the public, and Congress had grown suspicious of the FBI's abuses
of authority. For the first time in his bureaucratic career, Hoover endured
widespread criticism and Congress responded by passing laws requiring Senate
confirmation of future FBI directors and limiting their tenure to ten years.
On 02 May 1972, with the Watergate affair
about to explode on to the national stage, J. Edgar Hoover died of heart
disease at the age of seventy-seven. The Watergate affair subsequently revealed
that the FBI had illegally protected President Richard Nixon from investigation,
and the agency was thoroughly investigated by Congress. Revelations of the
FBI's abuses of power and unconstitutional surveillance motivated Congress
and the media to become more vigilant in future monitoring the FBI.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
is born when US Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly
hired federal investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch
of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief Examiner
was renamed the Bureau of Investigation, and in 1935 it became the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
When the Department
of Justice was created in 1870 to enforce federal law and coordinate judicial
policy, it had no permanent investigators on its staff. At first, it hired
private detectives when it needed federal crimes investigated and later
rented out investigators from other federal agencies, such as the Secret
Service, which was created by the Department of the Treasury in 1865 to
investigate counterfeiting. In the early part of the 20th century, the attorney
general was authorized to hire a few permanent investigators, and the Office
of the Chief Examiner, which consisted mostly of accountants, was created
to review financial transactions of the federal courts.
Seeking to form an independent and more efficient investigative arm, in
1908 the Department of Justice hired 10 former Secret Service employees
to join an expanded Office of the Chief Examiner. The date when these agents
reported to duty — 26 July 1908 — is celebrated as the birthday
of the FBI. By March 1909, the force included 34 agents, and Attorney General
George Wickersham, Bonaparte's successor, renamed it the Bureau of Investigation.
The federal government used the bureau as
a tool to investigate criminals who evaded prosecution by passing over state
lines, and within a few years the number of agents had grown to more than
300. The agency was opposed by some in Congress, who feared that its growing
authority could lead to abuse of power. With the entry of the United States
into World War I in 1917, the bureau was given responsibility in investigating
draft resisters, violators of the Espionage Act of 1917, and immigrants
suspected of radicalism.
Meanwhile,
J. Edgar Hoover, a lawyer and former librarian, joined the Department of
Justice in 1917 and within two years had become special assistant to Attorney
General A. Mitchell Palmer. Deeply anti-radical in his ideology, Hoover
came to the forefront of federal law enforcement during the so-called "Red
Scare" of 1919 to 1920. He set up a card index system listing every radical
leader, organization, and publication in the United States and by 1921 had
amassed some 450'000 files. More than 10'000 suspected communists were also
arrested during this period, but the vast majority of these people were
briefly questioned and then released. Although the attorney general was
criticized for abusing his power during the so-called "Palmer Raids," Hoover
emerged unscathed, and on 10 May 1924, he was appointed acting director
of the Bureau of Investigation. During the 1920s, with Congress' approval,
Director Hoover drastically restructured and expanded the Bureau of Investigation.
He built the agency into an efficient crime-fighting machine, establishing
a centralized fingerprint file, a crime laboratory, and a training school
for agents. In the 1930s, the Bureau of Investigation launched a dramatic
battle against the epidemic of organized crime brought on by Prohibition.
Notorious gangsters such as George "Machine Gun" Kelly and John Dillinger
met their ends looking down the barrels of bureau-issued guns, while others,
like Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the elusive head of Murder, Inc., were successfully
investigated and prosecuted by Hoover's "G-men." Hoover, who had a keen
eye for public relations, participated in a number of these widely publicized
arrests, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as it was known after
1935, became highly regarded by Congress and the US public. With the outbreak
of World War II, Hoover revived the anti-espionage techniques he had developed
during the first Red Scare, and domestic wiretaps and other electronic surveillance
expanded dramatically.
After World
War II, Hoover focused on the threat of radical, especially communist, subversion.
The FBI compiled files on millions of US citizens suspected of dissident
activity, and Hoover worked closely with the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) and Senator Joseph McCarthy, the architect of the US's
second Red Scare. In 1956, Hoover initiated COINTELPRO, a secret counterintelligence
program that initially targeted the US Communist Party but later was expanded
to infiltrate and disrupt any radical organization in America. During the
1960s, the immense resources of COINTELPRO were used against dangerous groups
such as the Ku Klux Klan but also against African American civil rights
organizations and liberal anti-war organizations. One figure especially
targeted was civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who endured systematic
harassment from the FBI. By the time Hoover entered service under his eighth
president in 1969, the media, the public, and Congress had grown suspicious
that the FBI might be abusing its authority. For the first time in his bureaucratic
career, Hoover endured widespread criticism, and Congress responded by passing
laws requiring Senate confirmation of future FBI directors and limiting
their tenure to 10 years. On 02 May 1972, with the Watergate affair about
to explode onto the national stage, J. Edgar Hoover died of heart disease
at the age of 77. The Watergate affair subsequently revealed that the FBI
had illegally protected President Richard Nixon from investigation, and
the agency was thoroughly investigated by Congress. Revelations of the FBI's
abuses of power and unconstitutional surveillance motivated Congress and
the media to become more vigilant in the future monitoring of the FBI. |
On
a 26 July: 
2002
(Friday) The stock of consumer finance company Metris (MXT) rises on the
New York Stock Exchange from its previous close of $1.61 to an intraday
high of $3.00 and closes at $2.85. It had traded as high as $42.56 on 25
September 2000 and $37.05 on 02 August 2001. — In the next trading
session, Monday 29 July 2002, MXT recovers further, to an intraday high
of $4.94, and closes at $4.20. [< 3~year price chart]
Deaths
