COINTELPRO: The History and Legacy of the FBI’s Most Controversial Covert Operation

No single figure in 20th century American history inspires such opposing opinions as J. Edgar Hoover, the iconic first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In his time, he was arguably the most powerful non-elected figure in the federal government.

To many Americans in mid-20th century, Hoover seemed like a real American hero. In a country suffering from the Great Depression and the crime wave of the early 1930s, Hoover was the symbol of law and order as his “G-Men” used the newest in scientific crime solving methods to bring gangsters like John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson to justice. During World War II, the FBI helped protect a country at war from German and Japanese spies and saboteurs. In the 1950s, at the dawn of the Cold War, Americans saw the FBI leading the charge against Soviet spies and domestic communists who seemed to be undermining the institutions of the country. Many boys across the country wanted to be G-Men, helping Mr. Hoover ferret out anyone who would harm the United States.

However, by the end of his life, Hoover had become something of a controversial figure, if not an outright villain, as various investigations revealed a darker side to the legend, one that included serious violations of the civil liberties of individuals. Hoover’s G-Men, it was discovered, engaged in illegal break-ins and wiretaps of suspected subversives, wrote fake letters that undermined the reputations of public individuals, paid informants for information, and pushed the groups they belonged to into committing illegal acts. Moreover, Hoover, it was said, had stayed in office so long by gathering secret files of damaging information about politicians (including presidents) that shortly after his death in 1972, the Hoover legend was in tatters, replaced by a caricature of a vain, vindictive, power-mad petty dictator.

Few things have colored Hoover’s reputation quite like COINTELPRO, which has become the FBI’s most notorious operation, one that still has lasting ramifications. From 1956-1971, the FBI waged a secret war in America through a series of projects against groups believed to be potentially subversive, including various people and organizations involved in women’s rights, civil rights, Native American rights, anti-war groups, and even groups that supported animal rights. In many instances, these projects involved covert and illegal surveillance of people who had done nothing to break the law but were willing to speak out about injustice. The FBI labeled these people as “subversive” and began not just to watch them but to act against them. In some cases, these actions involved harassment and intimidation of suspected “subversives” and burglary to seize files and other documents. In a few cases, the FBI is suspected of committing perjury to discredit groups or individuals, and it has even been suggested that the FBI was involved, indirectly, in people’s deaths.

This vast operation was virtually unknown until one activist group carried out its own burglary of an FBI field office in Pennsylvania, during which files detailing some COINTELPRO operations were stolen and sent to news agencies. The Washington Post was initially the only American newspaper to run a story, featuring it in a front-page article, and within a year, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover announced that COINTELPRO was over. It would not be until 1976 that the results of a Senate Select Committee revealed the full scope of COINTELPRO, and the revelations were stunning in terms of their scope and intent, exposing perhaps the most shameful episode in FBI history. To this day, COINTELPRO remains particularly notorious for having been used against leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., rather than communists.