Hoover’s death starts a race to control his secret personal files. But his power extends beyond the grave. J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In the first of an 8-part series, Emily shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.Correction note: The programme incorrectly identifies the Church Committee as the Church Commission.Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell
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15:29
7. Publish and Be Damned
Hoover begins to lose control of the American narrative.
J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In the first of an 8-part series, Emily shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.
Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell
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14:51
6. The Break-In
Amateur burglars risk all to go after Hoover’s secrets.
J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In the first of an 8-part series, Emily shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.
Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell
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14:46
5. "The Most Notorious Liar in the Country”
Martin Luther King Jr crosses Hoover's radar. It doesn't end well. J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In this 8-part series, Emily Maitlis shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell
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13:59
4. Witches
Hoover fans paranoia as his spy machine goes after Communists - real and imagined. J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In the first of an 8-part series, Emily shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.
Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell
An examination, half a century on from the first director of the FBI's death in office in 1972, of how Hoover's iron grip still permeates contemporary America.
South Africa