Dillinger and Hoover II

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: In 1917 Edgar Hoover was hired as a file clerk by the Department of Justice. Within two years he had secured a position as Special Assistant Attorney General Mitchell Palmer. It was in this capacity that Hoover oversaw deportations and arrests of many Bolsheviks during the Red Scare of the 1920s. By 1924 he was temporary head of the Bureau of Investigation and was confirmed several months later. Gradually, Edgar Hoover transformed the agency into a professional powerhouse. Agents were recruited on the basis of merit, the world’s largest fingerprint file assisted in the apprehension of criminals, the FBI labs provided law enforcement agencies with world class forensic assistance, and the FBI National Academy trained top cops from around the country.