The+FBI+in+American+Politics




 * For context, see AP Government, The Role of Institutions in the Enactment of Policy **

See also **United States History II.24 on the roots of domestic anticommunism and the consequences of McCarthyism**


 * The FBI: A Brief History from the Federal Bureau of Investigation**


 * See also FBI History from Syracuse University**
 * [[image:primary_sources.PNG link="@https://vault.fbi.gov"]]FBI Records: The Vault**
 * Contains 6,700 documents including materials on civil rights, political figures, anti-war protestors and more
 * The John Lennon FBI Files
 * Helen Keller FBI Files
 * Jazz Musicians and the FBI, including Max Roach, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole
 * Eleanor Roosevelt FBI Files from PBS American Experience
 * Eleanor Roosevelt Files from the Vault
 * Marilyn Monroe FBI Files

Click here to see a detailed timeline of the FBI's history, provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation itself.

To watch a video providing a brief overview of the history of the FBI, click here.

The F B Eye Blues, a poem by Richard Wright
 * FBI Surveillance of African American Writers**

F. B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover's Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature. William J. Maxwell. Princeton University Press, 2015


 * Early Background**
 * The agency was created by executive order on July 26, 1908 by Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte (grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte's brother) as a special detective force within the Department of Justice.
 * It was called the Bureau of Investigation and was charged with enforcement of the Mann Act
 * Agents were involved in the Palmer Raids in 1919 that were part of the First Red Scare period in American politics
 * J. Edgar Hoover became director in 1924
 * The agency was re-named the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935.


 * J. Edgar Hoover**
 * One of the most controversial figures in both FBI history and American politics, J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI's first and longest tenured director, serving from 1924 to 1972.
 * Hoover's actions as director launched the Bureau of Investigation from a minor policing force to an integral part of the national government and an beacon of freedom in the face of crises such World War II, the Cold War, conflicts with criminals such as John Dillinger and George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and more.
 * Hoover collected files on perceived criminals, political adversaries, and even celebrities and presidents alike in the interest of "national security", forcing both the FBI and himself into the realm of American politics.

For more information on the life and accomplishments of J. Edgar Hoover, click here. To see a trailer for the biographical film //J. Edgar//, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, click here.




 * The Palmer Raids**


 * [[image:primary_sources.PNG link="@http://americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/divisions/text8/text8.htm"]]Reds and Americans from America in Class, National Humanities Center**

For more see,** United States History II.10**




 * The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr.**

See an overview from Matin Luther King, Jr. and the Global Struggle for Freedom Encyclopedia from The King Center, Stanford University

The FBI vs. Martin Luther King: Inside J. Edgar Hoover's Suicide Letter to Civil Rights Leader, from Democracy Now news network

Click here to read about the relationship between the FBI and the Civil Rights Movement under President John F. Kennedy.

For information on the complex relationship and dislike that existed between J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI's most popular and controversial director, and Martin Luther King Jr., click here.

For more on the Civil Rights Movement, see United States History II.25



Hillary Clinton e-Mail Investigation (2016)

 * This is Not the First Time the FBI Has Interfered with a Presidential Election**, //The Nation// Magazine (October 31, 2016)

Why Did Trump Fire Comey? FiveThirtyEight (May 9, 2017)



The Osage Murders
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. David Grann
 * In the 1920s, a Community Conspired to Kill Native Americans for their Oil Money, NPR (April 17, 2017)