J. Edgar Hoover quotes

J. Edgar Hoover was an American government official who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). His leadership shaped the FBI into a powerful and influential institution in law enforcement. He held the position for nearly five decades, becoming one of the most controversial and prominent figures in American history. Here are 12 of his quotes:

Banks are an almost irresistible attraction for that element of our society which seeks unearned money.

J. Edgar Hoover

Above all, I would teach him to tell the truth. Truth-telling, I have found, is the key to responsible citizenship. The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar.

J. Edgar Hoover

Justice is merely incidental to law and order.

J. Edgar Hoover

We are a fact-gathering organization only. We don't clear anybody. We don't condemn anybody.

J. Edgar Hoover

Purpose of counter-intelligence action is to disrupt [Black Panther Party] and it is immaterial whether facts exist to substantiate the charge. If facts are present it aids in the success of the proposal but the Bureau feels ... that disruption can be accomplished without facts to back it up.

J. Edgar Hoover

You state that the Bureau under the [counter-intelligence program] should not attack programs of community interest such as the [] "Breakfast for Children." ... You have obviously missed the point.... This program was formed by the BPP for obvious reasons, including their efforts to create an image of civility, assume community control of Negroes, and to fill adolescent children with their insidious poison.

J. Edgar Hoover

No amount of law enforcement can solve a problem that goes back to the family.

J. Edgar Hoover

[Whoever did this] must be exterminated, and they must be exterminated by us.

J. Edgar Hoover

The menace of communism in this country will remain a menace until the American people make themselves aware of the techniques of communism. No one who truly understands what it really is can be taken in by it. Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent.

J. Edgar Hoover

I regret to say that we of the FBI are powerless to act in cases of oral-genital intimacy, unless it has in some way obstructed interstate commerce.

J. Edgar Hoover