Word: hoover
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Close to the White House. Born to a family of civil servants, Hoover first went to work for that "mammoth filing cabinet," the Library of Congress. From there he moved to the Justice Department, where he cleaned up its seamy, scandal-ridden investigative division and established "that monument to bureaucratic endeavor-a central fingerprint file." In the course of his career, Hoover has regularly exaggerated the FBI's accomplishments, writes Kraft. But why not? All federal bureaus, from the FCC to the Reclamation Bureau, do the same. While Hoover has a reputation for being his own boss...
These days, even in a magazine like Commentary, which is dedicated to intellectual surprise, it is surprising to find a kind word for J. Edgar Hoover, who has been enduring his worst press in 41 years as boss of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But Washington Columnist Joseph Kraft rises to the defense with a thoughtfully reasoned brief. "To critics, Mr. Hoover is the advance guard of the police state," says Kraft in Commentary's February issue. "To boosters, he is the modern knight errant. For better or worse, he is made to cast a shadow larger than life...
...Hoover is always gunning for more power, admits Kraft, but he finds Hoover's motive in the memoirs of former Attorney General Francis Biddle: "A career man in the truest sense, he cares for power and more power; but unlike many men, it is power bent to the purpose of his life's work-the success...
...failing is explained, if not excused, on the ground that "zeal in matters of civil rights has not, at least until recently, been a way to win favor either in the White House or in the power fastnesses of Congress." At another time, Kraft is quick to point out, Hoover was "a model of zeal for civil liberties." When liberals from Earl Warren to Walter Lippmann were demanding that California's Nisei be put in concentration camps for the duration of World War II, the FBI chief hotly protested, claiming that the demand for evacuation was "based primarily upon...
When it comes to such well-publicized FBI transgressions as occasional, indiscriminate wire tapping, Kraft writes that off, too. In Kraft's view, Hoover is too often held accountable for directives that have come from above, from the President or the Attorney General. Kraft is satisfied that "the compleat bureaucrat" is the man who does effectively what he is told...