FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

General Overviews

1990s

A - G

Aldrich, Gary. Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House. Washington, DC: Regnery, 1998.

Allen, Henry. "J. Edgar Hoover's Fall from Fashion: It's Been a Long Slide from National Hero to Devil in a Black Dress." Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 29 Mar.-4 Apr. 1993, 10-11.

Keyed to Anthony Summers' Official and Confidential and television show carried on PBS' "Frontline," this article essentially says that the public made Hoover's reputation and can destroy it as well. The author seems to relish all the accusations, even without accepting any of them.

Barnes, James A. "Big Chill: The White House and the FBI." National Journal, 12 Apr. 1997, 720.

ProQuest: "White House officials are now accepting significant responsibility for failing to make sure that an FBI warning about Chinese attempts to influence the 1996 election reached Pres[ident] Clinton. FBI director Louis Freeh has considered resigning, in part to improve the agency's ties with the White House."

Barron, John. Operation SOLO: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin. Washington, DC: Regnery, 1996.

Surveillant 4.3 notes that this is the story of "Morris Childs, who, along with his wife Eva, and his brother, Jack, provided the U.S. with secrets for 27 years" from his position as editor of the Daily Worker. Childs traveled to Russia, China, Eastern Europe, and Cuba and met many of the communist leaders of his day. Although intelligence scholars will question the operation's level of importance, Barron's book, reviews of the book, and future accounts will "help clarify" SOLO's "role in U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War years."

For Fontaine, WIR 15.3, Operation SOLO is "a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in intelligence." On the other side of the evaluation scale, Fischer, IJI&C 10.4, raises the question, "How much should be believed of this carelessly written, factually incorrect, and undocumented book?... The problem with Barron's account is that much of it is 'inherently implausible' (Theodore Draper), some absolutely impossible, and none of it totally confirmable.... Operation SOLO is replete with non sequiturs and many major and minor errors that damage its credibility."

Other reviewers offer a range of opinion on the book: See, for example, Arnold Beichman, "The Incredible Saga of Our Super Spy in Moscow," Washington Times, 9 Mar. 1996, C1; Theodore Draper, "Our Man in Moscow," New York Review of Books, 9 May 1996, 4; Harvey Klehr, "Comrade Heroes; Operation SOLO: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin," American Spectator, Mar. 1996, 70-72; Richard Gid Powers, "Double Agent," New York Times Book Review, 21 Apr. 1996, 20; and Jeff Stein, "Spy in the Ointment," Washington Post, 23 Apr. 1996, D2.

Bly, Herman O. Communism, the Cold War, and the FBI Connection: Time to Set the Record Straight. Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1998.

Breuer, William B. J. Edgar Hoover and His G-Men. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1995.

Surveillant 4.3 says this book focuses "on the law enforcement side of the FBI.... This is a sweeping, laudatory tribute to Hoover and his many hand-picked agents."

Wannall, WIR 14.3, finds Breuer's theme of Hoover's revitalization of the FBI very congenial. He believes that the "bureau, rejuvenated under Hoover's leadership and managerial ability,... achieved remarkable successes." According to Wannall, one of Breuer's goals was to "counter the barrage of vilification that has been heaped on this great American. This he has done in an objective and factual manner." The reviewer concludes that Breuer's is a "fascinating presentation." Wannell is a retired FBI assistant director,who headed the intelligence division with overall responsibilities for FBI counterintelligence operations.

Capps, Freddie L., Jr. "Espionage Awareness Programs." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Sep. 1991, 17-19.

DeLoach, Cartha D. ("Deke"). Hoover's FBI: The Inside Story by Hoover's Trusted Lieutenant. Washington, DC: Regnery, 1995. 1997. [pb]

Wannall, Periscope 21.2, argues that DeLoach makes "a powerful presentation of factual data and well-documented conclusions"; this is "'Don't put me down' reading." The author presents "an unbiased portrait of J. Edgar Hoover. His faults are clearly defined.... On the other hand, DeLoach ... has forcefully presented facts which explain and vindicate Hoover's decisions and actions which have been interpreted by his detractors in ... derogatory and vilifying terms." In the process, the author "put[s] the lie to the slurs" and "smear allegations of homosexuality and cross-dressing" of Anthony Summers' biography, Official and Confidential. This book "makes excellent reading and should dispel many of the wild rumors that thus far have denied Hoover his proper niche in American history."

For Surveillant 4.2, "this precise, highly readable narrative is the most authentic account in some time.... [I]t will disappoint [both] rabid FBI haters and uncritical Hoover worshippers.... Highly recommended."

Devroy, Ann, and Michael Isikoff. "The Bureau's New Chief: Tough and Fair." Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 26 Jul.-1 Aug. 1993, 33.

Reports and comments on the nomination of Louis J. Freeh to replace the fired William S. Sessions as FBI Director.

Dobbs, Michael, and R. Jeffrey Smith. "The KGB's Keystone Kops: How the FBI Penetrated Moscow's Washington Spy Ring." Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 8-14 Mar. 1993, 11-12.

Gentry, Curt. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets. New York: Norton, 1991. New York: Truman Talley/Plume, 1992. [pb] New York: Norton, 2001. [pb]

Clark comment: There is much here, perhaps too much. It is difficult at times to separate the sourced from the unsourced from the purely speculative. The following is one of many such examples -- this one occurring in the space of less than two pages: "What happened ... during the next few days can only be surmised.... would obviously ... Typically,... would have.... would surely be ... presumably saw ... Perhaps ... is the likely approach ... would have been ... may have ... must have ... would have been...." Parsing this huge (760 pages of text) and sprawling work for what is and is not on the mark might well require as much research as went into the book itself, although the retelling of earlier events (up to 1945) gives the impression of being sounder than some of what follows.

Surveillant 2.1 calls Gentry's work "[a]n impressive, comprehensive account -- hostile but fairer than expected." Nonetheless, the author "presents more of a caricature of Hoover than the man deserves." Similarly, Elson, Time, 14 Oct. 1991, notes that Gentry "generally is better at describing what the director did than at analyzing what made him tick."

For O'Reilly, Policy Studies Journal 21.3, Gentry's is "by far the best Hoover biography ... but we cannot learn much about the director and civil rights from a writer who has either never heard of Selma ... or simply cannot keep the movement's seminal events straight."

Wannall, FILS 11.2, calls the book a "gathering of gossip and undocumented allegations." The "principal source ... was William C. Sullivan," who was a "biased, vengeful person." Yet Wannall, The Real J. Edgar Hoover (2000), p. 185, also refers to Gentry as "one of the less-biased chroniclers of Hoover's life and career."

Gibbs, Nancy. "Under the Microscope: Once the Most Esteemed Federal Agency, the FBI Comes Under Attack for Sloppy Work." Time, 28 Apr. 1997, 28-35.

The focus here is two-fold: the recent problems the Bureau has undergone and Director Freeh's management style and decisions. The article notes the Director's "icy" relations with the White House and the troubles he has had with the Republicans in Congress. A side-bar story looks at the difficulties encountered by the FBI laboratory: Elaine Shannon, "The Gang that Couldn't Examine Straight," pp. 30-31.

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