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September
24, 2002 9:00 a.m. |
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here's a movement
afoot in Congress to strip J. Edgar Hoover's name off the FBI
Building, and it may even succeed. Six House members — three
Democrats and three Republicans, including Dan Burton — sent around
a "Dear Colleague" letter two weeks ago saying the FBI's Hoover
years "can be described only as a dark episode in American law enforcement."
In addition, says the letter, "Hoover demonstrated a fundamental
contempt for the rule of law."
Since the letter was distributed on September 12, Burton and his colleagues have quadrupled their support. H.R. 5213 now has 24 co-sponsors, including seven Republicans.
The brief against Hoover is, well, not very brief. It includes everything from petty corruption to letting innocents spend decades in prison. "Hoover did a little good and a lot of harm," says Eli Lehrer, a crime expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "He refused to admit that organized crime was a problem."
Taking Hoover's name off the FBI building begs another question: Whose name should go on it?
Burton and his colleagues don't offer any suggestions. Indeed, there's a case to be made that nobody's name should replace Hoover's, as we're a government of laws rather than men. But just about everything in Washington is eventually named after somebody: The Department of Justice building on Pennsylvania Avenue was recently christened after RFK.
One possibility is to name the FBI building after Harry Callahan, the tough cop from San Francisco so expertly played by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. Except that he's not real.
Perhaps Congress could sell the naming rights, just as professional sports teams do with their stadiums. If we can't have the Harry Callahan FBI Building, then how about the Smith & Wesson FBI Building?
But seriously, folks: If Hoover's name comes off, then somebody else's eventually will go on.
The best man for the honor may be Melvin Purvis, the field agent responsible for capturing John Dillinger in 1934. Purvis didn't actually fire the gun that killed Public Enemy Number One, but he did run the operation (and kept the shooter's identity a secret to protect him from revenge attacks). He became well known as "The Man Who Got Dillinger" and the "Ace G-Man." Purvis also ended the criminal careers of Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.
Purvis had once been a favorite of Hoover's, but the jealous FBI chief couldn't stand the fact that one of his agents was gaining public notoriety. He gave Purvis undesirable cases and made his life in the FBI an ordeal. Purvis resigned, but the harassment continued — Hoover tried to convince private-sector employers not to hire the former agent. Purvis wound up serving as a celebrity pitchman for a variety of products, which he found humiliating. He died in 1960, in what may have been a suicide. His widow thanked Hoover for not attending the funeral.
So Purvis is perfect: A crime-fighting hero hated by Hoover. If Hoover's name does come off, then Purvis may have a name worth putting on.