The FBI and Its Evolution Through the History

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Start of the FBI
FBI growth
Meaning of World War II relatively FBI
Postwar era
The assassination of J.F. Kennedy
Making counterterrorism a fourth national priority
At the start of new Millennium
Conclusion
References

Introduction

There are many different federal agencies in the United States which are distinguished by incredible significance and relevance, and one, in particular, is that of the FBI. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice as well. They are an agency which has started their work around 1908 when they were known as the BOI (Bureau of Investigation), and at present, the FBI has all investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes and other related issues, thus making them the number one law enforcement agency of the United States government. Several issues are to be taken into consideration to understand the way the FBI works, its primary goals, and purposes. The way it is introduced in the legislative process, its organizational relationship to the Presidency, making it even more irreplaceable for the government, and the issues and actions that have shaped the operations of the agency itself; all of these are significant matters in regards to any federal agency, in this case, the FBI. This paper aims to thoroughly address and examine every one of these issues so that we can come to a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding of the subject matter at hand. This is what will be dissertated in the following.

Start of the FBI

To talk competently and properly about the start of the FBI, you need to know and understand the main purpose they are keeping to; “The mission of the FBI is to upload the law through the investigation of violations of federal criminal law; to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities; to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state, local, and international agencies; and to perform these responsibilities in a manner that is responsive to the needs of the public and its faithful to the Constitution of the United States” (Kessler, 2003). Although the FBI was first known as the BOI, it starts wearing a new name in the year 1935, during the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover. The actual establishment of the agency however did take place during the time of its origin, when it was still known as the BOI, there were only several federal crimes in the country that needed to be taken care of; those were the certain current issues the BOI investigated. The BOI was responsible for violations of laws involving banking, bankruptcy, antitrust, and peonage, for instance.

FBI growth

Growing bigger, the FBI had different expansions which took place in the agency over the years, and one of the most outstanding was in 1910, when “the Mann (‘White Slave’) Act had been passed, making the transportation of women over state lines for immoral purposes illegal. It also provided a tool by which the federal government could investigate criminals who evaded state laws but had no other federal violations” (Policy, 2007). The number of Special Agents, working for the agency also increased enormously around this time, and after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1917 during Woodrow Wilson’s administration, the Bureau’s work was increased once again. This growth continued, increasing gradually as time went on. FBI has been a perfect federal service for dozens of years, it still is. Due to the professional employees and quality work, it is known all over the world.

Then there were the years which were sometimes known as the ‘lawless years’, from 1921 – 1933. And they were known as this due to the fact of gangsterism and public disregard in general, particularly disregard to Prohibition, which made selling or import intoxicating beverages illegal. Although Prohibition was looked at positively by law enforcement agencies, a large majority of the public disagreed with it, and thus there was much angst that was caused as a result of this.

The Bureau began to gain more stature during the late 1930s, and “Although the Harding Administration suffered from unqualified and sometimes corrupt officials, the Progressive Era reform tradition continued among the professional Department of Justice Special Agents” (Policy, 2007). As well during this time, several crucial and significant decisions solidified the Bureau’s position as the nation’s premier and iconic law enforcement agency, and there were many different extravagant and notorious events which took place, such as the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby in 1932, to which Congress resulted in passing a federal kidnapping statute, and “Then in May and June 1934, with gangsters like John Dillinger evading capture by crossing over state lines, it passed several federal crime laws that significantly enhanced the Bureau’s jurisdiction. In the wake of the Kansas City Massacre, Congress also gave Bureau Agents statutory authority to carry guns and make arrests” (FBI, 2007).

Meaning of World War II relatively FBI

The World War II period, which took place between the late 1930’s – 1945, was an incredibly significant era for the Bureau, and for many different reasons at that. Many events unfolded in Europe, which resulted in the creation and continuation of the American Depression, which obviously in effect resulted in creating a lot more work for the Bureau. Germany, Italy, and Japan had embarked on a series of invasions during the late 1930s, and although many Europeans and North Americans considered the Spanish Civil War to be an opportunity to destroy Fascism, the United States, Great Britain, and France were locations which continued to remain neutral, as it was only Russia who was supporting the Loyalists. “To the shock of those who admired Russia for its active oppression to Fascism, Stalin and Hitler signed a nonaggression pact in August 1939. The following month Germany and Soviet Russia seized Poland. A short time later, Russia overran the Baltic States. Finland, while maintaining its independence, lost western Karelia to Russia. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany, which formed the ‘axis’ with Japan and Italy – and World War II began” (FBI, 2007). This resulted in a lot of violence and a lot of wrongful acts that the FBI thus had to end up dealing with, and the FBI was well aware of all of the Fascist and Communist groups as being threats to American security. During this time the responsibilities of the FBI escalated incredibly, and issues such as subversion, sabotage, and espionage ended up becoming major and serious concerns. It was at this time as well that the FBI developed a network of informational sources, and with leads developed by these intelligence networks through their work, the agents working for the FBI were then able to investigate any potential threats to national security.

The United States did end up making entry into the war, however right before this, the FBI ended up uncovering yet another espionage ring, and this particular investigation led to the arrest and conviction of 33 spies. “War for the United States began December 7, 1941, when Japanese armed forces attacked ships and facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States immediately declared war on Japan, and the next day Germany and Italy declared war on the United States” (FBI, 2007). Most of the FBI personnel worked on traditional war-related or criminal cases during the war, although several agents, in particular, had different and special tasks. When the year 1945 came around, the FBI realized that even in just those few years that had passed the world had changed dramatically, and they were now facing a world that was incredibly different from the world they had faced in 1939 when the war had begun. After all, American isolationism had ended and thus economically, the United States was now considered as being the world’s most powerful nation. As well, “At home, organized labor had achieved a strong foothold; African Americans and women, having tasted equality during wartime labor shortages, had developed aspirations and the means of achieving the goals that these groups had lacked before the war. The American Communist Party possessed unparalleled confidence, while overseas the Soviet Union strengthened its grasp on the countries it had wrested from German occupation – making it plain that its plans to extend Communist influence had not abated. And hanging over the euphoria of a world once more at peace was the mushroom cloud of atomic weaponry” (FBI, 2007).

Postwar era

Postwar America is another incredibly significant era for the FBI, as basically, each dramatic change that took place not only in the United States but in the world itself, greatly affected the FBI as well as the jobs and tasks that they would end up being assigned to. For example, the counteraction of the Communist threat became a paramount focus not only of the FBI but of the government at all levels, and the U.S. foreign policy stuck to remaining to concentrate on defeating the actual Communist expansion abroad, while many U.S. citizens, on the other hand, were fighting to defeat the Communist threat that was present at home.

The assassination of J.F. Kennedy

A public assassination of J.F. Kennedy astounded America in the sixties, which was a visiting-card of that period which ended up lasting into the mid-1970s, and although it was characterized by idealism, at the same time it was also increased by urban crime and certain prosperity for some specific groups to consider to have to resort to violence as a means of ‘challenging the establishment’. J. Edgar Hoover had been named as the director of the FBI in 1924, with a mandate to eliminate corruption and as well to get the agency out of politics, and “Hoover did exactly that, reducing the number of agents, establishing professional qualifications for the bureau’s members, and consolidating FBI field offices. Hoover’s ambitions to be a national figure and the adoption of dozens of federal criminal laws by Congress combined to increase the bureau’s stature and prestige” (Kessler, 2003). It was only after Hoover’s death in 1972 however that the United States began to realize and understand some of the abuses that he had made while he had been in power, and this including the fact for example of how he had kept extensive secret files on politicians and adversaries of the FBI, as well as disruptive activities against leftist and civil rights organizations, and extensive illegal wiretapping and bugging. This news hit America hard, and “The ABSCAM scandal – an FBI operation that involved offering unsolicited bribes to, among others, members of Congress – has heightened controversy over FBI methods. No statute regulates FBI activities. A charter delimiting the role of the agency was drafted in 1979 but has not yet been ratified by Congress” (Ungar, 2007).

Making counterterrorism a fourth national priority

In1978 Director Kelley resigned and he was replaced by formal federal judge William H. Webster. With the rise of international crime in the 1980s, which began in particular in the year 1982, following an explosion of terrorist incidents worldwide, Webster reacted by making counterterrorism a fourth national priority, and as well, “He also expanded FBI efforts in the three others: foreign counterintelligence, organized crime, and white-collar crime. Part of this expansion was the creation of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime” (FBI, 2007). Then as well throughout the 1980s, there was a major illegal drug trade situation, one which truly and severely challenged the resources of American law enforcement. As well, as the United States resulted in facing yet another financial crisis in the failures of savings and loan associations during the time of the 1980s, the FBI resulted by having “uncovered instances of fraud that lay behind many of those failures. It was perhaps the single largest investigative effort undertaken by the FBI to that date: from investigating 10 bank failures in 1981, it had 282 bank failures under investigation by February 1987. Resources to investigate fraud during the savings and loan crisis were produced by the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enhancement Act” (FBI, 2007).

At the start of new Millennium

In regards to the more recent years, the FBI had been portrayed more publicly than ever before, and on September 4, 2001, former U.S. attorney Robert S. Mueller, III was sworn in as the new FBI director, and he remains in this position to this day. However, it was only within days of his entrance to duty as FBI director when the September 11 terrorist attacks were launched against New York and Washington. “Director Mueller led the FBI’s massive investigative efforts in partnership with all U.S. enforcement, the federal government, and allies overseas…as well…on October 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the U.S. Patriot Act, which granted new provisions to address the threat of terrorism, and Director Mueller accordingly accepted on behalf of the Bureau responsibility for protecting the American people against future terrorist attacks” (Kessler, 2003). At the start of the new millennium, the FBI is an organization that truly and stands dedicated to its core values, and it is their commitment to these values and standards which ensures that they can effectively and efficiently carry out their missions and duties in the United States of America.

Conclusion

From this review, we can conclude many different things, several of particular importance and significance, namely that of how the organization originated, both in the legislative process and in general. We have been able to quite clearly see just how important and relevant the FBI is as an organization, and how truly critical they are in regards to working against violence and crime in the United States of America. There has never yet been and surely never will be another organization that even remotely compares to the FBI, and the respect that they thus should be granted is truly unimaginable. The employees that work for the FBI are fearless, brave, and courageous, and they strive to create a peaceful and their work is unmatched by any other. The FBI is an organization that has been considered as having made various positive actions, as well as some negative, but overall their status remains secured as being honorable. As the FBI approaches its 90th anniversary, it continues to anticipate and respond to emerging criminal threats, and it is better off than ever before because as a historical organization it can use its experiences and ratifications from the past and use those as examples to work more positively in the present and future. The actual work of the FBI, on behalf of the American people, is truly being carried out by some of the most dedicated and talented employees in the world; they are all completely committed to combating criminal activity not only in the United States but in the world as a whole, and they continue the mission of that first small group of Special Agents which were present in the year 1908, those who established a tradition of services that has far become the Bureau’s motto, which is: Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.

References

Douglas, J., & Newbold, K. M (2005). John Douglas’s Guide to Careers in the FBI: The Complete Guide to the Skills and Education Required for Competitive FBI Candidates. New York: Kaplan Publishing.

FBI (2007). History of the FBI, online article. Web.

Kessler, R (2003). The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

O’Connor, K. J., & Sabato, L. J. American Government: Continuity and Change, 2004 Election Update (7th Ed). New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN: 0-321-27627-2.

Policy. History of the FBI, online article. 2007. Web.

Simeone, J. et al (2002). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the FBI. Royersford, PA: Alpha Publishing.

Theoharis, A. G. et al (2000). FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. New York: Checkmark Books.

Theoharis, A. G (2004). The FBI and American Democracy: A Brief Critical History. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

TracFBI. FBI History, online article. 2007. Web.

Ungar, S. J. A Short History of the FBI, online article. 2007. Web.

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