A Rare Recording of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who, after being appointed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), became the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935, where he remained until his death in May 1972--serving a total of 48 years leading both the BOI and the FBI under eight presidents. Hoover expanded the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency and instituted a number of modernizations to policing technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories. The following audio clips include Hoover addressing domestic spying activities, deficiencies in parole laws, the dangers of communism, the obstacles faced by the Bureau and Special Agents a rash of high profile kidnappings, and critics of the FBI and its policies.