THE J. EDGAR HOOVER STORY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100010041-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 24, 2000
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: May 3, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW
MAY 1972
Approved For Release 2OOQ 4 !MAY
Uy-'JERRY..GREENE
Of THE NEWS V4ashingi6n aureau
Johir Edgar Hoover had a bulldog Jaw acid
a bulldog-'s bite and this hot-spoken rigid dis-
ciplinarian, openly recognized in Washington
as one of th'e nation's nlo~t Leo,=eriiil figures,
was also one of the most coAi-oversial. But
even .his harshest critics had, to concede that
almost= single-handedly, Hoover took a ram-
shackle, discredited government bureau and
built it into one of the world's foremost law
enforcement agencies.
Presidents who might have wanted to fire him
didn't dare; one or two of those who had examined
the possibility discovered quickly that Hoover had
won nationwide 'esteem and acceptance as. leader of
the one- law enforcement agency that couldn't be
bought.
Beyond that, Hoover personally had been able to
establish himself as a living example of the virtues
he insisted bound the country together and sustained
it iii time of stress. As President Nixon put it, he
was the "embodiment of the values he cherished most;
courage, patriotism, dedication- to his country and
granite-like honesty and integrity."
Tenure Stirred Controversy
In his relentless pursuit of foreign agents as well
as home-grown Communists and radical leftists who
might be doing business with Communists, Hoover
became anathema to many liberals, particularly those
.on the far left. His tenure as FBI director, far beyond
the compulsory retirement age of 70, became an issue
in at la a