The Birth of the FBI

Reviews / Votes

[Oliver] weaves together a wealth of information on the machinations that led to the establishment of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After the revolution, counterfeiting was one of the most serious crimes plaguing the U.S. The federal government used contractors-the legendary Pinkerton detectives-to ferret out counterfeiters. Eventually, the Treasury Department established its own anticounterfeiting unit, the Secret Service (which wouldn't assume its current job of protecting the president until after the assassination of William McKinley). Its agents were often "borrowed" by other federal departments to investigate crimes such as the fraudulent federal land deals made by members of Congress in the first years of the 20th century. In 1908, Congress ended the borrowing practice, but, unwilling to lose this key crime-fighting tool, Theodore Roosevelt's administration used a creative executive maneuver to set up a Bureau of Investigation under the aegis of the Justice Department. This inside-baseball deep dive into early-20th-century congressional-presidential relations is well-written and full of colorful personalities, among them detective Allan Pinkerton and James A. Tawney, Roosevelt's nemesis in the law enforcement jurisdiction battle. Students of congressional-presidential relations will lap this up. * Publishers Weekly * Readers will no doubt note the resemblance between early-20th century political conflicts between the White House, Congress and the press, and today's political clashes. Having covered the FBI for many years and having interviewed FBI senior leaders as well as street agents, including the legendary undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone - better known as the name he assumed when he infiltrated the Bonanno Cosa Nostra crime family for six years in the late 1970s, Donnie Brasco - I was most interested in reading this well-researched, interesting and enlightening backdrop of the issues and political intrigue that surrounded the creation of the predecessor to the FBI. * The Washington Times * RECOMMENDED . . .Oliver recounts some colorful personalities, including Allan Pinkerton, head of the famous detective agency, and Representative James A. Tawny, who vehemently opposed the FBI's creation. This book provides an accessible, entertaining look at an important piece of US government history. * Choice Reviews * Meticulously researched, The Birth of the FBI . . . is a fast-paced, engaging narrative that describes the origins of U.S. federal law enforcement. * Security Management Magazine * While Theodore Roosevelt's presidency is one of the most studied in American History, one of his key accomplishments has for years been overlooked. Willard Oliver has done an admirable job fleshing out Roosevelt's role in the establishment of the Bureau of Investigation, later the FBI. Moreover, Oliver shows how the creation of the investigative arm of the Justice Department reflected so many of the roles and characteristics we have come to associate with Roosevelt, including his crusades against corruption as U.S. Civil Service Commissioner and New York Police Commissioner. And it was his famous dedication to conservation that highlighted the need for an agency of national law enforcement, as land thieves sought to pillage the country's public resources. Finally, the creation of the Bureau of Investigation marked another quintessential Rooseveltian step in expanding Executive power and centralizing authority in Washington, D.C. - the ramifications of which Americans are still grappling. -- Edward P. Kohn, PhD, Professor and Dean, Norwich University Willard Oliver's The Birth of the FBI provides a dynamic history of how President Theodore Roosevelt's administration created the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908. Willard Oliver provides readers a lively narrative of the contentious origins of the FBI, stemming from the federal government's earliest struggles against counterfeiters, land thieves, and political assassins, all of which occurred well before the FBI's tremendous expansion under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover. Readers will appreciate this intriguing story of how the FBI emerged from a political struggle between the White House and Congress to create an efficient federal investigative bureau that originated from Theodore Roosevelt's controversial use of Secret Service agents to investigate a variety of federal crimes. -- Jeremy M. Johnston, PhD, The Hal and Naoma Tate Endowed Chair and Curator of Western History, Ernest J. Goppert Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum What an engaging, rip-roaring story of Theodore Roosevelt battling with Congress!! TR built his career by fighting crime and then as president set his investigators to catch land frauds. He accidentally caught members of Congress cheating. Then the slugfest Roosevelt had with Congress helped create the FBI. A wonderful book about a little-known chapter in history. -- Kathleen Dalton, Author of Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life Willard Oliver offers us a long-needed, nuanced, and sophisticated examination of the FBI's muddled origins. He deftly brings together the multifaceted threads that are the Bureau's historical tapestry to illustrate how the FBI was born of politics and bureaucratic struggle. -- Douglas M. Charles, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Pennsylvania State University