The FBI: A History

326 Pages·2007·2.468 MB·English

by  Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones

THE FBI
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THE FBI
a history
rhodri jeffreys-jones
yale university press / new haven and london
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2007 by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced,in whole or in part,including illustrations,in any
form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 ofthe U.S.Copyright
Law and except by reviewers for the public press),without written permission from the
publishers.
Designed by Mary Valencia
Set in Minion type by The Composing Room ofMichigan,Inc.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica by Vail-Ballou Press,Binghamton,New York.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jeffreys-Jones,Rhodri.
The FBI :a history /Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-11914-5 (alk.paper)
1. United States.Federal Bureau ofInvestigation—History. I. Title.
HV8144.F43J45 2007
363.250973—dc22
2007014617
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity ofthe Council on Library
Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A Caravan book.For more information,visit www.caravanbooks.org.
CONTENTS
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER1
Race and the Character of the FBI 1
CHAPTER2
Secret Reconstruction, 1871–1905 17
CHAPTER3
Proud Genesis, 1905–1909 39
CHAPTER4
Loss of Mission, 1909–1924 57
CHAPTER5
The First Age of Reform, 1924–1939 81
CHAPTER6
Counterespionage and Control, 1938–1945 100
CHAPTER7
The Alienation of Liberal America, 1924–1943 120
CHAPTER8
Gestapo Fears and the Intelligence Schism, 1940–1975 137
CHAPTER9
Anachronism as Myth and Reality, 1945–1972 149
CHAPTER10
A Crisis of American Democracy, 1972–1975 175
CONTENTS vi
CHAPTER11
Reform and Its Critics, 1975–1980 191
CHAPTER12
Mission Regained, 1981–1993 206
CHAPTER13
Strife and Slippage, 1993–2001 221
CHAPTER14
9/11 and the Quest for National Unity 230
NOTES 253
BIBLIOGRAPHY 273
INDEX 293
PREFACE
This book stems from my long-standing interest in the American past,in-
cluding especially the development ofU.S.secret intelligence but also rang-
ing more broadly from black and labor history through the rise of femi-
nism.It is a background that has a bearing on my approach to the history of
the FBI.Like most historians who have perused the FBI’s case files,I have
been impressed by their richness as a source,and I draw on them periodi-
cally in the following pages.But their seductive,vortex-like quality also im-
pressed me.For this reason,I have tried to produce a work from a stand-
point that is liberated from the bureau’s filing system;in other words,it is
the story ofthe FBI set in the context ofbroader historical currents.
As will be apparent from occasional comparisons made in the text,this
is also a European’s history ofthe FBI.Since the end ofWorld War II,Europe
has wobbled at varying speeds toward a federalist future.What could the
European Union learn from the United States,I wondered,in the realms of
policing, security arrangements, and anti-terrorism? To advance this in-
quiry,I proposed a “History of the FBI Project,”embracing not only this
book but also work on the idea of a European FBI,to be published sepa-
rately elsewhere.Conversely,Americans addressing the problems ofFBI re-
form have drawn lessons from the European experience, with results on
which I comment from my own perspective.
The British Academy awarded a research grant to prime the History of
the FBI Project.Subsequently,I received a research leave award from the
Arts and Humanities Research Council,and a Leverhulme Research Fellow-
ship.The Gerald R.Ford Foundation supplemented this generosity,as did
the Carnegie Trust for the Universities ofScotland,and the School ofHis-
tory and Classics and the Moray Fund at my university.The University of
Edinburgh additionally granted me extra leave following my stint as head of
history.For all this financial and leave support,I am most grateful.
Looking over the e-mail and paper correspondence files relating to my
research,I feel humbled by the way so many librarians and archivists give
generous support to individual scholars.The same applies to those who or-
ganize invitations to speak at conferences or institutions,in this case rang-
vii
PREFACE viii
ing from the Organization ofAmerican Historians to the Edinburgh The-
atre Workshop.To give just one example,in spite ofthe remoteness ofher
field from the history ofthe FBI,Sonya O.Rose ofthe University ofMichi-
gan set up a lively faculty and graduate seminar for me to address.I learned
a great deal (though doubtless not enough) from these exposures to critical
scrutiny,and extend my thanks to all those involved.
Douglas M.Charles was my co-applicant for the British Academy grant
that primed the project. He then served as my research assistant, but his
help went far beyond the remunerated hours.He has been a constant source
ofinformation and ideas,and a discerning critic.My deepest thanks go to
him.
It gives me great pleasure,also,to express my gratitude to the following
individuals who helped by offering advice or critiquing drafts ofthe book,
or both: Allida M. Black, Robert W. Cherny, Francis D. Cogliano, John
Dumbrell,Gary Durkin,Owen Dudley Edwards,Sidney S.Fine,John F.Fox,
Jr.,Alex Goodall, Michael Goodman, Susan-Mary Grant, Michael Heale,
Arthur S.Hulnick,Loch K.Johnson,Robert Mason,Gail Williams O’Brien,
Kathryn S.Olmsted,Susan Rosenfeld,Athan Theoharis,Christopher Wal-
drep,Thomas C.Wales,Hugh Wilford,Neil A.Wynn,and the anonymous
reader for the publisher.
My agent Sydelle Kramer has been discriminating in her judgments
and as supportive as ever.I acknowledge her help,and would like also to ex-
press my appreciation of the efforts of my editor at Yale University Press,
Chris Rogers,and ofhis colleague Phil King,who together guided the proj-
ect home.
At a time of family vicissitudes,my wife,Mary,has once again put up
with the authorial absences and moods with which she has become all too
familiar.To her,my thanks and everlasting love.
1
race and the character of the fbi
Although the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation is part ofthe U.S.Department
ofJustice,it has long been observed that it is an unjust organization.In the
year 2003,people ofHispanic,African American,Asian,and Native Ameri-
can descent made up 33 percent ofthe United States population of290 mil-
lion.But members of those groups accounted for only 16.5 percent of the
11,633 special agents ofthe FBI.
The bureau’s prejudice ran deeper than that of the nation at large.To
take the indicative case ofone ethnic group,African Americans made up 9.7
percent of the House of Representatives.This was a shortfall in that they
formed 13.3 percent ofthe population.But the FBI was in a different league.
Blacks composed just 5.5 percent ofits special agent force.
Against this background, in recent years a concern has emerged that
racial imbalance in the bureau endangered not just the welfare ofminorities
and the American system ofjustice,but also national security.That the im-
balance persisted in defiance ofthe concern confirms the power ofthe dom-
inant theme in the FBI’s history,race.
The object here is not to plunge American readers into despair,how-
ever,or to supply Europeans with an opportunity to gloat.Police forces,it
seems,have always had a checkered record.The Athenian police in the fifth
and fourth centuries B.C.spied on aristocrats who were plotting to over-
throw democracy,using house slaves ofdiverse races to do the job,and yet
preventing those slaves from escaping or organizing their own rebellions.In
the late twentieth century,the charge of“institutional racism”in the British
police led to reforms that failed to silence the critics.Meanwhile,most of
Britain’s partners in the European Union were not even attempting to re-
1