Removing J. Edgar Hoover’s Name From the FBI Building

Generally, I’m not in favor of tearing down statues of national leaders from an earlier, more oppressive era. Once such a movement gets underway, the question is “Where does it all stop?” In my town of Madison, Wisconsin, for example, plans are underway to remove a monument simply listing the names of Confederate prisoners of war who are buried there. I have publicly advocated against this attempt to erase history. No need to honor them; just keep their list of names.

When it comes to the name of a man who gave law enforcement a bad reputation, however, inscribed in large letters on the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), that is another matter. I am referring to J. Edgar Hoover, a recognized racist who fought against the progressive trends all through the years 1924 through 1972 when he directed the law enforcement agency.

Any historical figure given such an honor should be one who is a credit to the nation, one who upheld the laws and the standards of justice as set forth in the US Constitution. The general consensus is that J. Edgar Hoover was none of those things and that the manner in which he abused his powers to go after his political enemies made a mockery of the democratic values he had been appointed to uphold.

In 2015 Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee introduced a bill in Congress, co-sponsored by 12 Democrats, to remove the former FBI director’s name from the FBI building. In light of Hoover’s past abuses toward civil rights leaders and gays and lesbians (Hoover used the term “sexual deviates”), the bill argued that his name should be removed from this prominent building in the Washington D.C. capital. This bill failed to pass as did a similar bill introduced over 20 years before. Today, however, the time may be ripe for such an action, given the impetus to consider removing offensive symbols from the past—for example, Confederate flags and statues associated with genocide and racism, the time is ripe for the passage of a similar bill to remove the name of this dishonorable person from the FBI building.

Born in 1895, J. Edgar Hoover was director of the FBI for almost five decades until his death in 1972. He gets credit for giving the organization its name and for heading what came to be the most admired and powerful law enforcement agency in the world. The inside story of the FBI, however, as is documented in dozens of books and thousands of media accounts, is the story of blackmail, abuse of power, and deceit.

Of the sources I’ve consulted, The Bureau: My Thirty Years in Hoover’s FBI, written by William Sullivan, provides the richest details on the running of the agency. From his position at the highest ranks of the organization, Sullivan describes Hoover’s modus operandi, how he made a practice of gathering evidence of sexually inappropriate behavior by key government leaders, which he would then use to force them to bend to his will while ensuring his continuing role as director. Additionally, Sullivan documents Hoover’s use of sexual entrapment in espionage projects, his skillful control of the media through a public relations mill, the leaking of negative information on Democrats running for office, extensive spying through informants in the peace movement in search of Communist ties, and the burglarizing of the files of foreign embassies in Washington. Hoover was obsessed with finding Communists to the neglect of the mafia until his later years. Three successive presidents—Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon—wanted to remove Hoover from office, but he let them know that he knew their secrets, and that sealed his position.

Not only did he search out Communists, but Hoover also made it a mission to identify gay people—or people he suspected were gay—and to leak such information in order to put an end to their careers. He had hundreds of thousands of files collected on gay people as well as on peace protesters of the war in Vietnam (this writer included).

The FBI perhaps hit its lowest point in its perpetual harassment of Martin Luther King. In a relentless attempt to find links to Communists in the Civil Rights Movement, all of King’s hotel conversations were taped. When intimate details about King's sex life—an apparent affair—were revealed on these tapes, Hoover had the ammunition he needed to try to destroy the reverend’s reputation. The revelations were used to try to blackmail Dr. King into backing off from his activities. Copies of the tapes were mailed to his wife and leaked to reporters (who refused at that time to report on it).

The record shows that, under Hoover’s leadership, the FBI was racist. Agents exclusively were white men. While the FBI worked to sully the reputation of civil rights leaders, it showed reluctance to investigate anti-black race riots or to provide protection for civil rights workers in the South, insisting that these were local matters.

The values proclaimed by the FBI today are: integrity; professionalism; upholding the principles of the US Constitution; and the fair treatment of all people. To see J. Edgar Hoover’s name carved in stone at the FBI headquarters sends a message of a different sort. I strongly recommend that his name be removed.