Facts about FBI former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover

If there’s one member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that pretty much everyone in the world could name without trouble, it’s J. Edgar Hoover. Best known as the country’s most famous G-man, Hoover’s work as director of the FBI began in 1924, when Hoover took control, it was simply called the Bureau of Investigation. The “Federal” was added 11 years later in 1935.

Hoover may not have founded the FBI, but he certainly molded it into the institution citizens know today. As the head of the organization for nearly 50 years, Hoover has become a national icon, revered for the way he shaped the country’s domestic police force. In fact, Hoover is still so revered that the FBI’s national headquarters is named for him.