Ep 67: The FBI (Part 1)

The question we’re trying to answer this season on Solving JFK is - assuming that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone (if at all) in killing president Kennedy – then who did kill the president? We’ve covered the Secret Service. And, up next is the FBI.

What was the role of the FBI – if any – in President Kennedy’s death? When we talk about the FBI, the starting point has to be J. Edgar Hoover.

The main questions I want to answer about Hoover are whether he had foreknowledge or involvement in a plot to kill President Kennedy, and whether he knowingly participate in a cover-up of the assassination. But, to be able to unlock the answers to those bigger questions, we must first learn more about Hoover and who he surrounded himself with.

What did he care about? What were Hoover’s relationships like with key figures such as Robert Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and President Kennedy? And what other connections did J. Edgar Hoover have?

Hoover’s Background

John Edgar Hoover began his tenure as the head of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924 when he was appointed by president Calvin Coolidge. Hoover went on to serve 48 years as the head of the BOI and later, the FBI. [1] During that time, working under eight different presidents, Hoover gained an immense amount of power and influence.

Hoover set up the FBI up to run exactly how he wanted it, with himself right at the center of everything. Hoover thought highly of himself and of the Bureau as an institution. Hoover called the FBI the “Seat of Government” – which is defined as “the building, complex of buildings, or the city from which a government exercises its power.”[2]  Hoover wasn’t talking about Washington DC when he said Seat of Government. He was talking about the FBI.

Hoover had absolute control over all hiring and firing at the Bureau. The FBI was exempt from civil service rules. Hoover had the power to unilaterally demote, transfer without notice, or suspend FBI employees without pay.[3] As soon as Hoover took over the BOI, he fired all female agents and banned the future hiring of them.[4]

Despite Hoover’s legendary career in law enforcement, today he is well-known for his many abuses of power while in office. For example, Hoover kept dossiers on senators and congressmen whom he did not trust.[5]Any time an investigation would unearth political dirt or damaging information about a public official, Hoover would send an intermediary to let them know that the FBI was aware of the scandalous issue and that their secret was safe with the FBI.[6] This led officials to think twice before crossing Hoover, who kept everyone’s secrets to use as leverage.

The constant threat of blackmail from Hoover, combined with his actual role as the head of the FBI, is what made him so powerful. According to a judge who saw the documents from Hoover of his blackmail activities in 1998, they were in the thousands, and they contained QUOTE “scandalous material on public figures to be used for political blackmail.”[7]

Another example of Hoover’s criminality was a dirty tricks program he created called COINTELPRO. The goal of COINTELPRO was initially to disrupt the US Communist Party – a clear violation of the first amendment by the way. Eventually, COINTELPRO grew into an operation that spied on anyone who Hoover subjectively believed was spreading communist propaganda. The tactics used in this operation included infiltration, burglaries, setting up illegal wiretaps, planting forged documents, and spreading false rumors about key members of the target organization.[8] The FBI even wrote a letter to Martin Luther King, Jr. (who it viewed as a communist sympathizer because he supported Civil Rights) where the FBI encouraged Dr. King to kill himself.[9]

Today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has a federal holiday to celebrate his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. Yet, somehow, the man who led King’s illegal government sponsored persecution still has his name on the outside of the FBI headquarters.  

Hoover’s Motivation

So, what made J. Edgar Hoover tick? What did he care about? His number one issue was anti-communism. He prided himself on investigating radicals and subversives.[10] These subjective thought crimes made it easy for Hoover to allege bad motives to any act of any person he did not like. 

It is widely speculated that J. Edgar Hoover was a gay man. He never dated any women and lived with his mother until he was 43 years old. His constant companion was the number two man in charge at the FBI, Associate Director, Clyde Tolson. Tolson lived blocks away from Hoover. Each day they rode to and from work together and they ate lunch and dinner together. They also vacationed together twice every year - and would stay in the same bungalow.[11]  Hoover and Tolson carried on a relationship for about 40 years until Hoover’s death.

Today, it is a non-issue when a gay person has a high-ranking government position. But, that was not the environment during Hoover’s time. As a man who was himself gay, it’s hard to believe how Hoover treated the gay community. From 1953 until his death in 1972, Hoover personally directed an illegal nationwide surveillance program against gay rights groups.[12] He didn’t just fail to stop persecution. He was their persecutor.

In his personal life, Hoover liked to listen to soothing music and drink one or two Jack and Coke’s every night. He was an avid gardener. He collected antiques. And he loved watching horse races. Hoover lived in Washington, D.C. his entire life. He never left the continental United States. But, when he traveled, Hoover required a fresh bouquet of flowers to be in his hotel room.[13]

Above all else, what J. Edgar Hoover valued the most was holding on to the base of power that he had accumulated for himself as the head of the FBI, with the sole ownership and control of the secrets of high ranking government officials. In 1963, Hoover was 68 years old and was facing mandatory retirement due to the 70 year old age limit of the Civil Service Retirement Act.[14] This meant that, unless he was able to obtain a presidential exemption from the Act, Hoover would be forced to retire and lose his grip on power on his 70thbirthday – January 1st, 1965 – a date when President Kennedy, had he lived,  would have still been president.

Hoover and RFK

We’ve heard about Hoover’s background and what was important to him. But, what about his relationships with the Kennedy Administration, specifically, Robert Kennedy, President Kennedy, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson?

Historically, J. Edgar Hoover had a direct line to the Oval Office. He would bypass his superiors in the chain of command. This changed for the first time with the Kennedy Administration.[15] Robert Kennedy, the president’s brother, was the Attorney General, which meant that Hoover was supposed to report to him – not directly to the President. This relationship between Director Hoover and Attorney General Kennedy was rocky to say the least.

Early on, RFK found that he had trouble getting Hoover on the phone. So, in January of 1961, RFK ordered the phone company to install a direct line in Hoover‘s office with a buzzer. This was done without Hoover’s knowledge or approval. In February, Attorney General Kennedy noticed that Hoover’s secretary answered the phone when he called the direct line to Hoover. Kennedy then ordered Hoover’s long-time secretary, Helen Gandy, to move the phone back to Hoover’s desk.[16] This did not sit well with the Director. When RFK aides complained about Hoover not cooperating with the hotline, the Attorney General responded that Hoover wouldn’t be around much longer – with his mandatory retirement looming on January 1, 1965.[17] This hotline from RFK to Hoover was disconnected one week after the assassination.[18]

But, Hoover’s animosity towards RFK wasn’t just because of his insistence on the telephone hotline. He deeply disliked Bobby Kennedy on a personal level. Hoover hated that he wore rolled up shirt sleeves and a loosened tie. He also didn’t like that the Attorney General would bring his dog and his children to the FBI building.[19] On one Saturday, Bobby brought his kids with him to Hoover’s office when he was summoned to the White House. Bobby then asked Hoover to babysit his kids at the FBI office while he went to the White House. Hoover complained about “those brats” for weeks afterwards.[20]

Perhaps worst of all for Hoover was that the Attorney General would to go the FBI headquarters on weekends and request specific documents, which meant that Hoover had to work on weekends to ensure that RFK didn’t receive those documents.[21] This meant that Hoover had to change his cherished weekend routine.

But, RFK’s insistence on Hoover reporting directly to him – instead of to the president – did not stop Hoover from collecting dirt. While Hoover was not successful on compiling blackmail material against RFK, there was plenty of information on President Kennedy.

Each time there was press story about the president’s philandering, Hoover would send copies of the newspaper clippings about it to RFK.[22]

Aside from the personal contempt that RFK and Hoover had for one another, they also had fundamental political disagreements regarding the extent to which the Department of Justice should be focused on the Mafia and the nature of the communist threat.

RFK came in to office on a crusade against organized crime. He told the New Orleans States-Item on December 28, 1960 – that he intended to expedite the deportation proceedings against Carlos Marcello upon JFK taking office.[23] Hoover, on the other hand, consistently downplayed the significance of Mafia activity, saying the FBI had QUOTE “much more important functions” than arresting bookkeepers and gamblers.[24]

When it came to Communism, J. Edgar Hoover built a career on investigating and prosecuting Americans whom he viewed as subversive and sympathetic to Communism, like the American Communist Party. However RFK and President Kennedy believed that the Communist threat was not from people who were already in America – but was instead from foreign countries.

For example, Bobby Kennedy downplayed the threat that Hoover was worried about when he spoke to the London Sunday Times on December 3, 1961 – saying QUOTE “[The American Communist Party] couldn’t be more feeble and less of a threat, and besides its membership consists largely of FBI agents.”[25] This public exposure of undercover agents and public rebuke of Hoover’s worldview did not sit well with the Director. When President Kennedy pardoned Junius Scales for being a member of the Communist Party in December of 1962, Hoover was again reported to be furious.[26]

Bobby Kennedy did not hold back when asked about Hoover in an April 1964 interview where he said Hoover was QUOTE “dangerous” and was “rather a psycho”. RFK said the FBI was a very dangerous organization and that Hoover was “senile and rather frightening.”[27]

So, it’s safe to say that there was no love lost between J. Edgar Hoover and Robert F. Kennedy. But, what was Hoover’s relationship like with Bobby’s brother, the president?

Hoover and JFK

Hoover was initially outwardly cooperative with President Kennedy.[28] Hoover knew that Kennedy had the power to decide whether to grant a waiver from the compulsory retirement that Hoover faced on his 70thbirthday.[29] And Kennedy knew that Hoover was aware of his many and on-going extra-marital affairs. But, the JFK – J. Edgar Hoover honeymoon didn’t last long.

One of the first things the president did to upset Hoover was on March 17,1961, when he ordered the Post Office to stop holding up communist propaganda in the mail from abroad. Kennedy believed that this practice served no useful intelligence function.[30] In a December 8, 1961 speech, Hoover says that America is plagued with Soviet apologists, while implying that President Kennedy was one of them.[31]

It wasn’t just tactics on how to deal with communists that Kennedy and Hoover disagreed about. As noted, Hoover was well aware of Kennedy’s sexual escapades, and he disapproved of them. Hoover knew that Judith Campbell – the girlfriend of Chicago mob boss, Sam Giancana, visited President Kennedy at least twenty times while continuing to see Giancana.[32] During a private lunch on March 22, 1962, Hoover tells President Kennedy about 5 phone calls that Hoover was aware of between the president and Campbell. After this meeting with Hoover, JFK called off his dalliance with Judith Campbell, and commented to his aide Kenny O’Donnell (referring to Hoover) – “Get rid of that bastard, he’s the biggest bore.”[33]

On June 22, 1963, President Kennedy met with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. at the White House. In the Rose Garden, the president told King that J. Edgar Hoover had him under close surveillance, and advised King not to discuss any important matters over the phone. King noted after the meeting that Kennedy was afraid of Hoover.[34] The fact that the President would tell Martin Luther King to watch out for Hoover’s surveillance, instead of simply ordering Hoover to stop surveilling King, demonstrates the power and leverage that J. Edgar Hoover possessed.

Hoover and LBJ

In contrast to his adversarial relationship with the Kennedy brothers, J. Edgar Hoover was a close friend of Lyndon Johnson. Hoover lived directly across the street from Johnson for 19 years, when they both lived on 30th Place Northwest in Washington.[35] Hoover visited Johnson’s ranch in Texas in November of 1959, while Hoover was in town as a keynote speaker for a charity fundraiser.[36]

Over the course of their relationship, the two men always spoke very highly of one another. There are twelve personal letters from Johnson to Hoover between July of 1960 and the day of President Kennedy’s assassination. Here’s an example of one letter sent by then Vice President Johnson in May of 1963 in response to Hoover asking Johnson to be the keynote speaker at a the FBI Academy graduation:

         Dear Edgar:

….I can’t let this pleasant opportunity pass by. I’m delighted to be able to say yes to your invitation. Because of my high regard for you and my great respect for the service, I hope you know that I share in the complete and utter devotion that all the men in the FBI have for J. Edgar Hoover. I am so grateful to you and Deke DeLoach for all the many favors you both have done for us…[37]

While it is not surprising to see two men who have shared interests speaking kindly of one another, it is rare to hear a public figure lay on the charm this thick when Johnson says he shares in the complete devotion the men of the FBI have for Hoover.

The reason that the alliance between Hoover and Johnson worked so well was because they were political allies who valued having leverage on their enemies and using it. And each one knew that the other could always be potentially helpful. Hoover relied on LBJ to be a pro-Hoover voice in the Senate, and later in the White House. And Johnson relied on Hoover to help clean up some of the messes Johnson made on his ascent to the highest office in the land.

There are numerous examples of Hoover going above and beyond to help out Lyndon Johnson, usually in a legally questionable way. Here are just a few: On February 12, 1962, a story was written that linked Johnson to the shady dealings of Billy Sol Estes. This politically damaging story for Johnson was written in the tiny Pecos Independent and Enterprise newspaper. When CBS picked up the local news story, Johnson called Hoover to ask if the Bureau could talk to the editor of the newspaper. Hoover agreed and dispatched the the number 3 man at FBI behind Hoover and Tolson, Deke DeLoach, to handle the matter of intimidating the local Texas paper.[38]

In April of 1962, congressman Bill Cramer tried to bring impeachment charges against Vice President Johnson based on Johnson’s ties to Bille Sol Estes’ fraudulent operations. As soon as Johnson became aware of the impeachment charges, he had his aide, Walter Jenkins, contact Deke DeLoach to ask the FBI to go speak to Cramer, with the goal of convincing him to drop the impeachment charges. When told about Cramer’s allegations, Hoover said QUOTE “We have already checked into the story told by Cramer and found it false; Cramer himself is a loud mouth.” Hoover recommended that Cramer be interviewed about his allegations immediately.[39]

Johnson’s other big liability, his protégé, Bobby Baker, was under investigation by the Senate for various illegal dealings, including allegations of bribery and arranging sexual favors for congressmen. This investigation was heating up in November of 1963. At that time, the Baker matter was turned over from the Senate to outside counsel. The person who ended up being outside counsel was Bill Meehan, a former FBI agent who had just retired from the Bureau and would be relying on the FBI for logistical support. As a practical matter, Hoover had a lot of influence over Meehan’s investigation.[40] Ultimately, most of the witnesses who testified in the Bobby Baker investigation claimed fifth amendment protection against self-incrimination, and the matter was dropped by the in April of 1964.[41]

Hoover and the Mafia

We’ve talked about J. Edgar Hoover’s relationships with John and Robert Kennedy, and with Lyndon Johnson. But, Hoover also had ties to another group of interest when it comes to the JFK Assassination: organized crime. Much of what we are about to discuss will be covered in more detail when we get to our series on the mafia. For now, this is what you need to know about J. Edgar Hoover and the mafia.

Hoover knew about the existence of the Mafia since the 1930s and used it as a source for political and criminal information.[42] Hoover’s earliest mob contact, with whom Hoover became close friends,[43] was Frank Costello, who later go on to be a mob boss from New York. Hoover would regularly meet with Costello in Central Park.[44]

On one hand, Hoover appeared to be acting reasonably when it came to enforcing the law against the mafia. For example, New Orleans FBI agent, Regis Kennedy, regularly reported on a continuing investigation into Carlos Marcello. The report, which Agent Kennedy would send to Hoover twice each year, always said that Agent Kennedy failed to develop information showing that Marcello was in violation of any laws enforced by the FBI.

On the other hand, Hoover pushed back against Attorney General Bobby Kennedy’s intense effort to attack organized crime at every opportunity. There were numerous actions taken against the Mafia when RFK was the Attorney General. But, after President Kennedy was killed, Hoover was able to appeal directly to President Johnson instead of having to deal with Bobby as Attorney General. According to William C. Sullivan, who was the third highest ranking official at the FBI under Hoover for a period of time, after RFK resigned in September of 1964, QUOTE “the whole mafia effort slacked off again.”[45]

So, why would Hoover want to protect the mafia? After all, he was a man who ostensibly valued justice and putting criminals behind bars. We know from a February 17, 1962 FBI Airtel that Angelo Bruno, the Philadelphia mob boss, was aware that J. Edgar Hoover was gay and had a long-time relationship with his deputy, Clyde Tolson.[46] Many historians reasonably speculate that Hoover’s knowledge that the mafia perhaps had evidence of his relationship with Clyde Tolson could be the reason why Hoover did not aggressively go after the mafia – and the reason why Hoover pushed back when RFK tried to.

In addition to Hoover’s relationship with Frank Costello, he had two other friends who were close to New Orleans boss, Carlos Marcello: Washington DC lobbyist, and connector, Irving Davidson and Texas oil millionaire, Clint Murchison.[47]

Each year, beginning in 1938, Hoover (usually escorted by his companion, Mr. Tolson) would take a vacation to the Del Charro Hotel in La Jolla, California, which was owned by Clint Murchison and fellow Texas Oil tycoon, Sid Richardson.[48] Hoover and Tolson’s Bungalow was next door to the Bungalow used by Murchison, who frequently stayed there.[49] Hoover and Tolson would stay at the hotel for two weeks every year during the racing season at the nearby Del Mar racetrack.[50] Hoover never paid anything for his annual vacations to La Jolla. The bill was always comped. Hoover would often entertain other guests at his Bungalow, including Howard Hughes and organized crime liquor lawyer, Arthur Samish.[51]

We can say with certainty that Hoover had relationships with key mafia figures through both his personal ties to New York boss, Frank Costello, and the many relationships that he made with mafia and mafia-adjacent figures over the years of staying at Hotel del Charro.

NEXT TIME ON SOLVING JFK: We continue to examine the actions of the FBI, including the mysterious cancellation of a Flash Alert about Oswald by Agent Marvin Gheesling.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_of_government; https://time.com/archive/6598317/from-times-archives-the-truth-about-j-edgar-hoover/

[3] Mark North, Act of Treason, at 26.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

[5] Newsweek, December 7, 1964, at 23; William W. Turner, Hoover’s FBI, at 49.

[6] Ovid Demaris, The Director, at 198.

[7] Gerald McKnight, Breach of Trust, at 96; https://www.rcfp.org/court-sees-legitimate-interest-hoovers-personal-files/

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI–King_letter

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

[11] Id. at 23-24.

[12] Austin American Statesman, 9/24/89, at A6.

[13] North at 23.

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover

[15] Victor Navasky, Kennedy Justice at 104; North at 27.

[16] Demaris, at 185.

[17] Turner at 101.

[18] North at 402.

[19] Id. at 69.

[20] Neil J. Welch and David W. Marston, Inside Hoover’s FBI, at 4, 90.

[21] Id.

[22] North at 68.

[23] HSCA Vol 9, p 70.

[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover; For example on March 18, 1961 Hoover writes a memo about Hollywood producer Jerry Wald, who is planning to make a movie on RFK’s Exposé of the mafia through his best selling book The Enemy Within. Hoover doesn’t like this either. Because it makes it look like he allowed the mafia to flourish. (North at 82.) On March 19, 1963 Hoover and RFK battle over Hoover’s proposed article for readers digest where Hoover was going to take credit for recent successes in the war on the Mafia. RFK forces Hoover to withdraw his false claims, and Hoover decides to not publish the article until later in the year. Hoover is furious. (North at 239.)

[25] London Sunday Times, December 3, 1961; North at 115.

[26] Tulsa Daily World, 12/25/62.

[27] Powers, Secrecy and Power, at 397.

[28] North at 51.

[29] Id. at 52; Richard G. Powers, Secrecy and Power, at 359.

[30] Washington Post, 3/18/61.

[31] North at 116.

[32] John H. Davis, The Kennedys, at 838. On December 9, 1961 Hoover becomes aware that Sam Giancana made campaign contributions to JFK’s presidential bed through Joseph Kennedy. North at 116.

[33] Anthony Summers, Goddess, at 294.  

[34] Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., RFK and His Times, at 350.  

[35] https://www.foresthillsconnection.com/news/the-first-lady-of-forest-hills-when-lady-bird-johnson-was-a-murch-mom/;https://www.npr.org/2022/11/22/1138189651/biography-j-edgar-hoover-gman-beverly-gage-fbi

[36] https://texasarchive.org/2013_02715; North at 53. 

[37] North at 267; Letter from Lyndon Johnson to J. Edgar Hoover, dated May 3, 1963.

[38] North at 129; Athan Theoharis, The Boss at 346.

[39] Theoharis at 346-347.

[40] The New York Times, 11/6/63; North at 345.

[41] Robert Rowe, Bobby Baker Story, at 66.

[42] William C. Sullivan and Bill Brown, The Bureau: My Thirty Years in Hoover’s FBI, at 271; Neil Welch and David Marston, Inside Hoover’s FBI, at 81-82.

[43] North at 71.

[44] The Truth About Hoover, Time Magazine, December 22, 1975, at 20.

[45] https://themobmuseum.org/blog/robert-f-kennedys-crusade-mob-part-3/

[46] HSCA Vol 5, at 449.

[47] John H. Davis, Mafia Kingfish, at 312-313.

[48] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_del_Charro

[49] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_del_Charro

[50] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_del_Charro

[51] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_del_Charro