J. EDGAR HOOVER
Politics
Born: January 1, 1895
Washington D.C.
Died: May 2, 1972

"Banks are an almost irresistable attraction for that element of our society which seeks unearned money."

Hoover lived in Washington, D.C. all his life. In 1895 he was born in a white, Protestant, middle-class neighborhood known as Seward Square, three blocks behind the Capitol. His family had been civil servants for generations, including his father, Dickerson Naylor Hoover, who worked for the Coast Guard. Yet Hoover was closest to his mother, Annie, who was the disciplinarian and moral guide of the family. He lived with her until she died in 1938 in the house at Seward Square. Hoover was forty-three years old at the time.

Hoover was extremely competitive during his young years. To overcome a stuttering problem, he developed a habit of speaking quickly, acquiring the nickname "Speed," and joined the debate team in high school. Desiring to enter into politics, he took night school courses while working at the Library of Congress. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Hoover obtained a draft-exempt position with the Department of Justice.

Criminologist and lawyer John Edgar Hoover became director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1924. He eliminated politics from FBI appointments and established better recruiting and training methods for the agency. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Hoover became famous for his anti-Communist views and his anti-subversive actions. Hoover and the FBI were accused of exceeding their jurisdiction, manipulating dubious crime data and persecuting those who opposed them.