Friend of the Bureau FBI

7/29/2019 Friend of the Bureau FBI

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FRIENDS OF THE BUREAU:PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCEAND THE CULTIVATIONOF JOURNALIST-ADJUNCTSBYJ. EDG AR HOOVER 'S FBIBy Matthew Cecil

Beginning in the mid-193 0s and continuing throughout his tenure, FB IDirector J. Edga r Hoov er used staff-written letters to convert his fameand his burea u's authority into a powe rful public relations tool.Journalists like The Amer ican Magaz ine ' s Courtney Ryley Cooper,Fulton Oursler of Reader 's Digest , and Jack Carley of the M e m p h i sCommerc ia l Appea l came to believe that they were close confldantes ofthe iconic FBI director. The relationships built and maintained throughpersonal correspondence provided the FBI with a community of journal-ist-adjuncts, friends of the bureau who stood rea dy to prom ote anddefend the FBI in their publications.

The January 1955 edition of The American Magazine included aseries of letters to the editor commenting on an October 1954 article,"The Com mu nists Are after O ur M inds." One of those letters caught theeye of an FBI pub lic re lations official, Milton A. Jones, in Washington ."Thank God that a man like J. Edgar Hoover is the head of theFBI," John P. Foster of Topeka, Kansas, wrote. "He is our greatest bul-wark against the insidious Communist menace that is casting a shadowover this great land of ours."'Ever watchful for published opinions about the FBI, Jones high-lighted Foster's comments in a memorandum to Assistant DirectorLouis B. Nichols, head of the FBI's Crime Records Division and theBureau 's top public relations official. "It is believed that Fos ter's letteris the only one which would merit a letter from the Director thankinghim for com men datory remarks," Jones wrote. "We have no ad dress forFosterthe current Topeka, Kansas, directory reflects no listing of hisname however it is believed tha t an address could be obtained throughSumner Blossom, editor of American Magazine."^Blossom was a friend of the FBI, included on the bure au's "SpecialCorre spond ents" list. In ad dition. Blossom w as described in bureau doc-


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editor, addressed in FBI correspondence as "Bios," and requested Foster'smailing ad dress. Blossom replied:Now and then in the Letters column, when we wan t to makea specific point in connection with a published article whichno one of our correspon dents has ma de as directly or poin ted-ly as we like, I drag out old "John P." and let him say hissay. So I guess you will have to tell Edgar that I am "John P."or at least that the sentiments which "John P." expressed aremine. 'Nichols enjoyed Blossom's misrepresentation, replying overHoover's signature that he could fully appreciate the excellence of the let-ter from the "old master." Blossom could be comfortable k nowin g, the let-ter said, "there will be no investigation of John P. Foster.""The sources of Hoo ver's pow er to build and maintain advantageo usrelationships w ith journalists like Blossom can be traced to the directo r'siconic cultural status and the popular appeal of FBI crime stories.Beginning in the mid-1930s and continuing throughout his decades-longtenure as director. Hoover converted his fame and authority into a pow-erful public relations tool by creating the illusion of personal relationshipswith individual reporters and editors, members of Congress, local offi-cials, and others. These relationships were built and maintained throughthe mountains of personalized letters that poured forth from Hoover's

staff, bearing the director's signature with the actual author identified byhis initials on the original, filed copy.Beginning in the 1930s, the FBI developed a sophisticated publicrelations office, the Crime Records Division, leveraging access to its in-demand crime stories to create close relationships with dozens ofreporters, broadcasters, and ed itors. Crime Records included a five-agentCorrespon dence Unit. A review of m ore than 300 FBI files on journa listsand their publications shows that Hoover's letter-writers churned outthousands of friendly, personal letters signed by the director. Journalists'

files, obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, typically includedozen s or, in some cases, hu nd red s of personal letters signed by Hoover.In his mem oirs, disg run tled former-Assistant Director William C. Sullivanderisively labeled the FBI as the "greatest letter writing bureau in the his-tory of the United States": "Letters we nt by the thou sand s to the Jaycees,the new spaper ed itors, the mov ers and sha kers so carefully cultivated asFBI contacts by our agents in the field."^Hoover's correspondents were carefully selected from people whoinitiated contact with the FBI, held influential positions, and were consid-ered "friendly." Correspondents were typically placed on one or moremailing lists, including a Special Co rrespondents list that included seven-ty-five newsmen in 1954, a Special Service Contacts list that included jour-


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critical journalists and those thought to have subversive connections intheir pasts.*In most cases. Hoover met w ith his correspondents only a handfulof times in person, if at all, with each meeting typically lasting less thanone-half hour. Yet his correspondents, particularly those in the mediawho were favored with FBI "interesting case" tiles and personal atten-tion from other bu reau officials, came to believe they were very m uch apart of H oov er's inner circle. And , in exchange for H oov er's interest inthem, his pen pals rendered a service to the FBI, publishing laudatoryarticles, providing access to information, and staging a spirited defenseagainst bureau critics when asked.'

For the purposes of this study, public relations is defined as pub-lic communication seeking to build and m aintain com mu nities of mean-ing, essentially shared understandings of an organization, situation orpolicy, among groups of strategically important individuals. These rela-tionships are presumed to contain the potential for action on behalf ofthe comm unicator by the public. Voters may vote. Supporters m ay cometo an organization's defense in a crisis. Com mon und erstan ding s createan atmosphere more conducive to change that is in the organization'sinterest.'"

In a 1947 essay, public relations pioneer Edward Bernaysdescribed this two-way communication process between an organiza-tion and its strategic publics as the "engirieering of consent.""According to scholar Ewen, Bernays' innovation, in add ition to coiningthe term "public relations counsel," was to recognize the po wer of mes-sages based on insight into the understandings and beliefs of the audi-ence members.'^Bernays' 1923 book. Crystallizing Public Opinion, set out the para-meters of public relations practice in substantial detail for any organiza-tion that wished to change public opinion by creating messages basedon an understanding of its publics: "How does the public relationscounsel approach any particular problem? First he must analyze his

client's problem and his client's objective. Then he must analyze thepublic he is trying to reach Ho w will his client's case strike the pub -lic min d?" "Recent scholarship provides a construct for unde rstan ding the his-torical developm ent of public relations and for placing Ho ove r's use ofcorrespondence as a public relations tactic into that timeline. Lammeand Russell reviewed existing scholarship in public relations historyand offered a framework that categorizes pioneers of the practice basedon the "scale at which tactics were employed."'"Furthermore, the authors identified rules of engagement thatdeveloped over the course of public relations history, including the

PublicRelations:Definitionand History


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Russell and Lamme's framework emphasizing the deployment of variety of public relations tactics as a useful indicator of strategic inten(and, thus, modern-style pub lic relations) helps in placing pioneers of thpractice in context. To understand the impact of those public relationefforts on society at large, though, it is important also to understand thdevelopment of the organization being studied.

Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte created a Bureau oHistory investigation within the Justice Department in 1908. In creating the FBIprecursor agency, Bonaparte was acting against the wishes of Congresswhich had rejected an earlier effort to create an investigative agency ithe Justice Department, citing fears of federalized police power."" Controversy over the potential for what opp one nts labeled an American secrepolice or Gestapo dogged the FBI throughout the Hoover era. Overcoming opposition to the legitimacy of a federal police force was a kemotivator for FBI public communication efforts."*Hoover became director of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924, onyear after B ernays published his guide for u sing p ublic relations to engneer consent." As late as 1934, when Hoover had been director of whawas then the D ivision of Investigation (renamed as the FBI in 1935) for teyears, the agency's work remained relatively un know n. A few years latehowever. Hoover and his special agents, christened "G-Men" by Georg"Machine Gun" Kelly in 1935, were cultural icons, and Hoover's agencwas a high-profile success story of the N ew Deal-era w ar on crime.Thanks in part to hundreds of dramatic media reports on Bureaexploits, Hoover's FBI moved from the fringes of the public mind to thcenter of politics and popular culture in America. President ErankliDelano Roosevelt's Ne w Deal had centralized economic power within thfederal government and also included an emphasis on centralized fedeal law enforcement.^' By 1936, the FBI had grown from fewer than 10agents in 1930 to nearly 900 agents stationed in Washington and in fiftytwo field offices nationwide.^

The once unknown Hoover and his FBI had become, according thistorian Richard Gid P owers, "reassuring sym bol[s] of security and stbility for most Americans."^' For decades, dramatic reports of FBI exploifed by the pub lic relations w ork of the Crime Records Office, cap tured thpublic imagination as the agency grew in size, in jurisdiction, and as source of public interest. The FBI particularly valued its relationshipwith Special Correspondents in the news media, and the bureauCorrespondence Unit carefully cultivated those relationships for decades.This study examines three cases where Hoover and his public relations team employed personal correspondence as a strategic public rela


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twentieth centijry in the 1940s and 1950s. Memphis newsman JackCarley became an important southern source of information anddefender of the FBI during the tijrbulent 1950s and 1960s.

Between 1933 and 1940, Hoov er developed a working relationshipwith journalist and author C ourtney Ryley Cooper that resulted in twodozen magazine articles, three books, and four motion pictures.^"Cooper's FBI tile, totaling more than 4,000 pages, chronicles the devel-opment of their relationship and exemplifies the early stages of the FBI'suse of personal correspondence to build beneficial relationships withstrategically imp ortant individuals.Co ope r's introduction to the FBI came in April 1933 wh en he wasdirected by editor Sumner Blossom to rewrite a story that had beenbotched by another reporter for The American Magazine. Cooper report-ed in his initial letter to Hoover th at the article merely requ ired, "hu mantouches and high-lighting [sic] by which you and your work can bebrought more clearly before the reader."^Born in Kansas City in 1881, Cooper was an unlikely adjunct "G-Man." He ran away from hom e at age 16 and became a circus clown andthen a publicist for Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. He moved intocircus management and dabbled in press agentry before leaving the cir-cus to become a new spaper reporter, writing features for the Kansas City

Star, New York World, Denver Post, a n d Chicago Tribune.'^'' In 1933, Cooperbegan writing crime stories, churning out 750 circus-themed stories andwinning an O. Henry Award in 1930 for the trite morality tale, "TheElephant Forgets."^^

Cooper's correspondence with Hoover was informal and chatty,featuring unpretentious phrasing and always ending with, "Samezever[same as ever], Ryley." Hoover's early letters to Cooper were busi-nesslike, even brusque, with "Dear Mr. Cooper" in the salutation andthe letter bodies dealing quickly w ith Coo per's request and ending witha "Cordially yo urs."By September of 1934, Hoover's letter-writing crew, led in thoseearly days by his closest confidante Clyde Toison, greeted Cooper as"Ryley" and included more personal and contextijal information.^" Ayear later, H oo ve r's letters, again authored by Toison, greeted Cooper as"My dear Ryley."^^ By October of 1935, the correspondence becamemore personal as one of Hoover's ghost-written letters included ahealth update on his close confidante Toison (the author of the letter):"Clyde has returned to the office and is feeling much better."'"As Hoo ver 's collaboration with Cooper became more su bstantive,

the FBI provided their "dear Ryley" with more and more material, edit-ed his stories before pub lication, an d p rovided him with several tours of

CoutineyRyleyCooper:Creatingthe FBICrime Story


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ter, he casually described renovations at his Florida home, "... by abouJune we should have a place to lure the Gstring men for somThe character of Hoover's letters to Cooper became dramaticallmore intimate when Nichols took over authorship of correspondenc

with members of the news media. On October 31, 1938, for exampleCooper wrote that he and his wife had added three puppies to theihousehold, bringing their total to four.'' "I enjoyed very much reading othe birthday presents which Gen and you bought yourselves anundoubtedly the name 'Four Barx Brothers,' is quite appropriate,Nichols wrote on H oover's behalf.'Throughout the 1930s, Hoover's correspondence with Coopereflected the success of their collaboration. Cooper's value to Hoov er as co-author, ghost-author, and public relations adviser grew throughout thdecade, m irroring H oov er's rise to public prominence.^' Their exchangewere always cheerful and businesslike. They corresponded as closfriends, although Co ope r's flle indicates that he and Hoover only met iperson pe rhaps a dozen times, and never for m ore than a few m inutes. wasn't until one of their collaborations created controversy that their relationship and correspondence cooled.In 1939, Cooper ghost-wrote Hoover's article for The AmericMagazine, "Camps of Crime," describing tourist camps, the popular arudimentary motels located throughout the country at the time, as notorious criminal hideouts.^'' Within days of the release of the article, angrletters from the tourist camp industry started arriving, and they contiued in great numbers for more than six months. At first, Hoover's lettewriters greeted the complaints with deance. "I am sure that a carefureading of my article will clearly point out that there are reputable touricam ps operated in an efficient and decent manner by business men of reognized integrity," Hoover wrote to a California tourist camp owner.'' few weeks later, after receiving dozens more complaints, including seveal from members of Congress, Hoover's tone changed. "I regret exceedingly that anything I have said, either in the article entitled 'Camps oCrime,' or otherwise, should be at any time a source of loss, annoyancor humihating to any law abiding citizen of this country," Hoover wroto a Florida tour ist cam p owner."" From late 1939 to Septem ber of 194Hoover forwarded copies of every single letter of complaint and eveFBI response to Cooper and his editor. Blossom.Around the same time, Hoover's correspondence with Coopceased. They had corresponded regularly for nearly seven years with onbrief interruptions. On September 29, 1940, Cooper's body was found the closet of a New York hotel, an apparent suicide. His widow claimethat Cooper, who ow ed h is fame and success to the FBI, had been snubbby Hoover, leading to the depression that resulted in his suicide. Hoov


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And his fingerprints were removed from the FBI exhibit room andBefore his death. Cooper, the beneticiary of Hoover's ghost-writ-

to Blossom h ad been going out with a "Dear Sum ner" salutation

t 'Ed ga r'," N ichols told H oover in a me mo . "He also suggested that youIS IC

As Cooper's relationship w ith Hoover was winding do wn, anoth-ournalist, Fulton Oursler, began a collaboration w ith the FBI that con-magazine in 1931. In 1942, he moved to Reader's Digest as a sen-

The Greatest Story Ever Told, a best-sellerblished in 1949 tha t ultimate ly sold 1.5 miUion copies."" Ou rslerf public relations and lunched with H oover on at

Oursler's relationship with Hoover, whom he considered a closeOursler's written exchanges with Hoover were frequent, highly

nally, Ou rsler's correspondence w ith Hoover led him to become a pro-Within months of their initial contact, Oursler had becomeFulton" and Hoover "Edgar" in their written salutations. Oursler wasto speak at the FBI National Police Academy gradu ation ceremo-wood."^ Hoover, in a letter w ritten by N ichols, declined the invi-ation to visit Sandalwood, but replied that the O urslers' friendship wasn inspiration to him, and adde d, "you may rest assured tha t if I am nothe victim of circumstances and continued overw helming pressure, I amertainly contemplating a visit sometime in the near future.""^

The following day, in a letter that was marked "read to Director"ndicating that H oover w as mad e aw are of the contents, Oursler report-d that he had assigned a Liberty reporter, Frederick L. Collins, whoould soon thereafter arrive to do a series on the FBI."' Even beforeollins visited the FBI for his story, Oursler forwarded a story of hiswn titled "Inked Out," that urged reporters to defer to police on mat-

FultonOursler:A Bureau-craticFriendship


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it.""' Hoover replied with a two-page letter detailing the series of edits (actually Nichols) suggested.'"That exchange was typical of Hoover's correspondence with othreporters. The personal touch often led to laudatory coverage for tbureau in the correspondent's publication." And more often than not, treporter-friend of the bureau allowed the FBI to edit the final version the story. After Collins visited the FBI on February 6, Oursler wro"Thank you for your kind offer to review the articles when they are readI was hoping you w ould be willing to do this, both from a factual stanpoint an d for any other suggestions you migh t care to make."'^ When tedited articles appeared in Liberty, Hoover thanked Oursler, promptan emotional reply from the editor: "My adm iration for you is so deemy enthusiasm for the work you are doing so profound, that I have restrain myself from expressing my full thoughts for fear of seemingsentimentalist.""

In subsequent correspondence, Oursler forwarded a letter received from H,L. Mencken in which the "Sage of Baltimore" expresshis admiration for Hoover.'" In a telegram on September 15,1939, Hoovexpressed his condolences upon the death of Oursler's mother." Amonlater. Hoover, through his ghost-writers, struck u p a corresponde nce wiO ursler's young son, Fulton Jr. (Tony) that continued for decades.'^Meanwhile, Liberty continued to publish articles that lauded tbureau and evangelized suspicion. Oursler's "Every Sheriff a SherloHolmes," which touted the value of the FBI National Police Academwas edited by the FBI in late 1950." The FBI reviewed and edited a lectuOursler gave in New York in 1941,'" When Oursler left Liberty in 19moving to Reader's Digest as a top editor, their collaboration and cospondence continued unabated.When the two men did not meet in person for more than thryears, Oursler complained to Nichols: Oursler "stated that he had not haa chance to sit dow n w ith the Director for over three years and that w hhe could get information from me, he had to see the Director to get a ltle of his personality," Nichols reported." Oursler pleaded for an oppotunity to collaborate with the bureau. "He stated that we could absolutly control anything he wrote and it would be handled in any way wdesired," Nichols told Toison.*"" Citing Reader's Digest's circulation ofmillion, Nichols arranged an in-person m eeting for Oursler with HooveWith the publication of Oursler's best-selling novels, the relatioship lapsed for a few years. In 1950, though, when Max Lowenthal pulished a book about the FBI, criticizing the centralization of police powwithin a federal agency. Hoover turned to his Special Corresponde nts fwh at app eared to the public to be an objective defense. Oursler was covinced by Nichols to publish "Why I No Longer Fear the FBI," by ACLGeneral Counsel Morris Ernst in Reader's Digest. Ernst's article was


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Their flnal exchange of correspondence occurred just days beforeursle r's dea th. Oursler forwarded some letters he had received from a

25, and Hoover sent a letter to his widow, Grace, on May. "His friendship over the years has meant more than words can

knew he w as as close as the nearest telephone and he, I am sure,

The"His friends in the FBI mourn his passing . The FBI has lost

Beginning with a trickle of letters between 1939 and 1942 thatMemphis Commercial Appeal Associate Editor Jack

himself, and their friendshipome som ething valued by both men, albeit not equal-John Ogden Carley joined the Commercial Appeal staff in 1923 and

Carley's nearly 1,000-page FBI file chronicles a relationship based

ce Academy. In exchange, Carley provided a runnin g com-

portant covert source for the FBI.It is Ca rley 's work as a so-called Special Service Contact for the FBI

Jack Carley:SpecialServiceContact


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wrote on a mem oran dum . "He is a part of the FBI and therefore in the weffort very directly."*"'For his service during the war, Carley was presented with an FM eritorious Service Award. In his nom ination letter, the SAC in M emphdescribed how Carley made himself helpful to the FBI during the w"On numerous occasions during the war period, he discreetly securinformation which this office desired and would have experienced gredifficulty obtaining but for his assistance."^"Carley's assistance continued in the postwar years, as he publishtwo anti-communist booklets with testimonials from Hoover, authordozens of supportive editorials and spoke at fifteen FBI National PolAcademy graduation ceremonies. Carley met briefly with Hoover sevtimes during those years, but their primary contact was through the maBy 1945, Nichols had taken on the majority of Hoover's side of writtconversation.Carley provided assistance whenever asked. In 1950, for exampseveral US senators had held up the FBI's appropriation in committ"Try & have Jack help us on our appropriation problems," Hoovinstructed Nichols.^' Carley immediately called the powerful SenAppropriations Committee Chairman Kenneth McKellar of Tennessand the hold on the appropriation was lifted. Toison wrote a thank yletter to Carley that was signed by Hoover.Also in 1950, Special Agents in C harge w ere asked to provide meoranda justifying their local Special Service Contacts (SSCs). TMemphis SAC nominated both Carley and his Commercial Appealeague Frank Ah lgren ." SAC Hostettle r's mem o further clarifies the seices that Carley, designated "Special Service Contact Mem phis* 1" proved:

He has access to much information which is not ordinarilyavailable to Special Agents. Bureau records will also reflectthat he has access to certain Congressional leaders atWashington. On a daily basis, he immediately evaluates alllocal, state-wide, national, and international news whichappear to be pertinent to our wo rk. I am sure tha t he will makean effort to secure any information which the Bureau mightdesire in connection with National Security.'^In 1951, Carley w ielded his SSC influence again, advocating at request of Nichols for an executive salary increase for FBI administrato"These men are not only my warm personal friends of many yearCarley w rote to Sen. McKellar, "bu t they are richly deserv ing of every csideration that Congress can give them.""The warm correspondence between H oover and Carley, punctu a


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tions 'Dear Edgar' or 'Dear Director' while correspondence to himalways uses the salutation, 'Dear Jack.' On October 4, 1954, we wrote amost cordial letter to him in remembrance of his birthday, which wasOctober 6,1954.'""That same year. Special Service Contacts were re-designated asSAC Contacts, and Hostettler nominated Carley for that status, notingthat, "He supports the Bureau against all attacks of every description.He is a personal friend of the Director and many others at tbe Bureau.... be has performed the above services and many special favors for theBureau.""Between 1954 and Carley's death in 1962, Hoover continued torely on his friend for information about the burgeoning civil rightsmovement. Hoover praised Carley for his "objective analysis of theproblem," and Carley relied on Hoover for guidance as to "what heshould do" about civil rights.'" In 1956, Carley was called upon to helpthe FBI after the Mississippi legislature passed a bill that attempted toprevent FBI investigations of civil rights matters in the state. First,Carley pub lished a strong editorial asking "Does He W ant Am ateurs?"suggesting that Mississippi would get amateur investigators if theyblocked the FBI from the state. Next, Carley traveled to Jackson,Mississippi, to meet with Governor James P. Coleman and argued theFBI's case. "It appears now that it is up to Carley to convince GovernorColeman not to sign the bill," Nichols reported." Apparently, Carleywas convincing. Coleman vetoed the bill.'"

Beginning in the early 1950s, Carley's health began to fail. Oneight occasions, he canceled planned appearances at academy gradua-tion ceremonies. Still, he continued defending the FBI from his base inM emp his. In 1958, a mem ber of the burea u's enemies list, journalist FredJ. Cook, published a blistering critique of the FBI in The Nation.''''Hoover's public relations staff quickly characterized the critique as partof a coordinated "smear cam paign" and engaged its army of pen pals innew sroom s around the coun try to attack the critics."" Carley w as one ofthose friends, and he promised to draft an editorial "to have in readi-ness" if called upon to attack Cook."'Carley's health continued its decline in 1959 and 1960, and thepace of his correspondence with Hoover slowed. Carley's declarationsof friendship became sentimental. "As long as I can writeand I hopeto be do ing that for a long time yetI will count myself a mem ber of theBureau family, the Bureau team," Carley wrote to Hooyer in 1959. "Itjust couldn 't be otherw ise. It never w ill be otherwise.""^ Hoover seem edto take a paternal interest in Carley's well-being. When Nichols invitedCarley to speak at the fall academy graduation ceremony, the bureauhad to ship oxygen canisters to stops along Carley's train route. "I think

it is an imposition to have set this up," Ho over w rote on a m em orand umdetailing the arrangements for Carley's trip. "Carley is a very sick man


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need of his services, we in law enforcement found him ready at all timesto answer the call," Nichols wrote for Hoover. "It was an honor to beamong Jack's close friends. I feel a deep personal loss at his passing."""

LonclUStons Pubhc relations pioneer Edward Bernays referred to persuasivecommunication based on an insight into the audience members' motiva-tions as the "engineering of consent." Hoover's public relations teamunderstood what motivated itsaudience of supportive journalists. Accessto information from theFBIhad professional benetits, allowing journaliststo write and publish stories about the Bureau that were sometimes editedby agents in the Crime Records Section. At the same time, Hoover's icon-ic status and personal fame made a friendship with the director a power-ful personal motivator for those whoadmired him.

The FBI was not alone in its efforts to cultivate beneficial relation-ships with reporters, editors, and publishers early in the era of twentieth-century public relations. The World War I Committee on PublicInformation undertook a coordinated effort to feed government informa-tion directly to journalists."^ In 1922, Walter Lippmann outlined the role ofpublicity agents communicating with the news media to shape publicopinion.""" Bernays had engaged the press in his early 1920s theatrical andcorporate promotions."^ By the late 1920s, large organizations like AT&Twere employing public relations tactics tobuild strategic relationships incommunities around the country, including relationships with membersof the press.""No other contemporary organization, though, could match the cultural capital of Hoover's FBI, with its carefully vetted and very popularstories of crime, heroism, and the triumph of good over evil. DuringHoover's forty-eight-year tenure as director, thousands of FBI storiesappeared in newspapers, magazines, comic strips, radio programs, andmotion pictures, and ultimately on television. Most of those stories wereproduced with the assistance, and often with the pre-publication editing,of the Crime Records staff."" Also, noother organization had a leader whocould match the public profile of the iconic Hoover, a bureaucrat turnedlaw enforcement giant, whose name became synonymous with hisbureau.

Hoover's status as an American institution and hisbureau's reputa-tion as America's indispensable law enforcement agency spanneddecades, ending only with the director's death in 1972." Hoover and thework of his bureau became the stuff of legend, a legend maintained by theFBI's tight control over the flowof information from itsinvestigative files.The idea of a friendship with Hoover was exclusive and glamorous andcarried implications of being part of a small group of insiders 'at the center of the government.

A review of the FBI files of more than 300 American journalists and


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and personalized exchanges, often including declarations of friendshipor references to health and family, were reserved for friendly journalistslike Cooper, Oursler, and Carley, who were designated as SpecialCorrespondents, Special Service Contacts, and SAC Contacts.Lamme and Russell offered a framework permitting an organiza-tion's strategic intent to be discerned from the nature of the public rela-tions tactics employed. The genius of bureau public relations lay in theway the writers of the Correspondence Unit harnessed the FBI's enor-mous cultijral capital and Hoover's personal appeal to engineer quasi-personal relationships with reporters like Cooper, Oursler, Carley, andmany others. Friends of the bureau became, in essence, journalist-adjuncts to the agency's public relations staff, uncritically amplifyingthe bu reau's message. Some even became adjunct investigators, provid-ing information as Special Service Contacts,

The friendly relationships built through personal correspondencepaid signiticant cultural dividends for the FBI. Journalists' reputationsas independent reporters of facts no doubt gave the FBI stories they toldadditional credibility with the public. For readers unaware of the per-sonal relationships invo lved, these were the stories of reliable journa listswho could generally be trusted to stick to the facts. Throughout the tinalfour decades of Hoover's tenure at the bureau, friendly correspondentsin the media provided an uncritical reiflcation of the bureau's preferredimage of itself. They also stood ready to attack critics of the FBI whenasked.The relationships created and maintained through public relationstactics, like the personal correspondence employed by the FBI, encour-age the individual targets of messages to draw lines identifying mem-bers and non-members of a community of meaning. Mem bers of a com-munity of meaning share a similar set of understandings about theorgan ization and, ideally, are willing to act upo n those beliefs. The questfor excellence in the practice of public relations may be seen as an ongo-ing search for the perfect tactic and the perfect message to create thoseshared meanings. By fabricating the impression of close friendships

with H oover, the letter-writers of the FBI strategically engag ed a power-ful community of meaning to promote and defend the bureau.

NOTES1. Letter to the Editor by John P Foster, TheAmerican Magazine(October 1954), 11.2. M.A. Jones toLouis B. Nichols, January 3,1955, FBI ile94-4-5977-

unrecorded,3. Sum ner Blossom to Louis B. Nichols, January 11,1955, FBI ile94-


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Oryx Press, 2000), 229.6. William C. Sullivan and Bill Brown, The Bureau: My Thirty YearHoover's FBI (New York; W. W. Norto n & Co., 1979), 85.7. [Redacted], to Louis B. Nichols, March 26, 1954, FBI file 62-21531

1093.8. William C. Sullivan, "M olders of Public Opinion in the U nitedStates," to Alan H. Belmont, M arch 18,1959, FBI file 100-401767-7.9. For exam ple, M atthew Cecil, "'M ono tonous Tale'; LegifimacyPublic Relations, and the Shooting of a Public Enemy," Journal Communication Inquiry 28 (A pril 2004); 157-70.10. There are myriad definitions of public relations. This study relieon a composite definition produced by the author after reviewing popular public relations textbooks and scholarly papers. It is assumed in thipap er tha t public relafions, as defined by the founder of the field, Ed wardBernays, must include the gathering of insight into the audience, wh ethethat be produced via formal or informal means. For an exploration opublic relafions definitions, see Dean Kruckeberg and Kenneth StarckPublic Relations and Com munity: A Reconstructed Theory (New YorkPraeger, 1988), 16.11. Edward Bernays, "The Engineering of Consent," in The Annals the American Academy of Political and Social Science 250 (1947); 113.12. Stuart Ewen, PR! A Social History of Spin (New York; Basic Boo1996), 163.

13. Edward Bernays, Crystallizing Public Opinion (New York; LiverPublishing, 1923), 166-67.14. Margot Opd ycke Lam me and K aren Miller Russell, "Removing thSpin; Toward a New Theory of Public Relations History," JournalismCommunication Monographs 11 (winter 2010); 354.15. Lamme and Russell, "Removing the Spin," 354.16. Lamme and Russell, "Removing the Spin," 341-42.17. Theoharis et al., eds.. The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guid42; Athan Theoharis and John Stuart Cox, The Boss: J. Edgar Hoover aGreat American Inquisition (Philadelphia; Tem ple University Press, 19843, 84, 88, 99.18. Theoharis et al.. The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide,141-42.19. Theoharis et al.. The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide, 320. Richard Gid Powers, Secrecy and Power: The Life ofj. Edgar H(New York; The Free Press, 1987), 227.21. Kenneth O'Reilly, "A New Deal for the FBI; The RooseveAdministration, Crime Control, and National Security," Journal oAmerican History 82 (Decem ber 1982); 642.22. Theoharis and Cox, The Boss, 157.


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62-21526-9.26. Cooper obituary, Nero York Times, September 30,1940, p. 36.27. "Aide of Buffalo Bill Sketches 'Circus Days' for Radio's Big Top,"

New York Times, October 22,1933, sec. B, p. 2.28. For example, J. Edgar Hoover to Courtney Ryley Cooper,

September 27,1933, FBI tile 62-21526-unserialized. These and other earlyletters include a notation that "CT," Clyde Toison, was the author. Later,Louis B. Nichols, "LBN" authored most of the letters to reporters, edi-tors, and publishers.

29. J. Edgar Hoover to Courtney Ryley Cooper, September 11, 1934,FBI tile 62-21526-82.

30. J. Edgar Hoover to Courtiiey Ryley Cooper, October 11,1934, FBItile 62-21526-83.

31 . J. Edgar Hoover to Courtney Ryley Cooper, April 16,1935, FBI tile6-21562-171.

32. J. Edgar Hoover to Courtiiey Ryley Cooper, October 15,1935, FBIfile 62-21562-235.33. Clyde Toison to Gen Cooper, October 19, 1935, FBI file 62-21526-

236.34. Courtney Ryley Cooper to J. Edgar Hoover, January 21,1936, FBI

tile 62-21526-254.35. Courtney Ryley Cooper to J. Edgar Hoover, October 31, 1938, FBI

file 94-3-4-20-491.36. J. Edgar Hoover to Courtney Ryley Cooper, November 9, 1938,

FBI file 94-3-4-20-491.37 . For an extensive discussion of Cooper's work for Hoover, seeRichard Gid Power s , G-Men: The FBI in American Popular Culture(Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press,1983).

38 . Draft of "Camps of Crime" attached to: Courtney Ryley Cooper,letter to Louis B. Nichols, Nov. 4, 1939, FBI file 94-3-4-20-529.

39 . J. Edgar Hoover to A.C. Hanson, January 22,1940, FBI file 94-3-4-20-538.

40. J. Edgar Hoover to [Redacted], Gainesville, Florida, March 11,1940, FBI file 94-3-4-20-639.

41. Clyde Toison, memorandum detailing a telephone call from aNew York source, September 30,1940, FBI file 94-3-4-20-675.

42. Louis B. Nichols, Memorandum for Mr. Toison, October 4, 1940,FBI file 94-4-4667-1.

43. Louis B. Nichols, Memorandum for Mr. Toison, September 12,1939, FBI tile 94-3-4-20-519.

44. "Fulton Oursler, Editor and Author of Books on ReligiousThemes," Washington Star, May 25, 1952, sec. A, p. 32; "Fulton Oursler,Author, Dies at 59," New York Times, May 25, 1952.

45. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, August 18,1938, FBI file 94-4-


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47. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, N ovem ber 26,1938, FBI flle 94-692-23X1.48. Oursler, Fulton, "Inked Out," original manuscript, FBI file 94-4692-30X, 11.49. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, January 20, 1939, FBI flle 94-4692-30.50. J. Edgar Hoover to Fulton Oursler, January 31, 1939, FBI flle 94-4692-30.51. The author has reviewed the FBI files of more than 200 individuareporters and approximately 100 publications, all obtained through thFreedom of Information Act.52. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, February 20,1939, FBIflle94-692-32.53. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, February 20,1939, FBIflle94-692-48.54. Fulton Ou rsler to J. Edgar Hoover, M ay 19,1939, FBI flle 94-4-69251. 55. J. Edgar Hoover telegram to Fulton Oursler, September 26, 1939FBIflle94-4-692-53.56. J. Edgar Hoover to Fulton Oursler, Jr., October 26,1939, FBI File 94-592-60.57. Fulton Oursler, "Every Sheriff a Sherlock Holmes," original manuscrip t, FBI flle 94-4-692-74.58. Fulton Oursler to J. Edgar Hoover, January 14, 1941, FBI flle 94-4692-78.59. L.B. Nicho ls, M em orandum for Mr. Toison, Decem ber 17,1945, Fflle 94-4-692-117.60. Nichols to Toison, Decem ber 17, 1945.61. For a full account of Hoover's relationship with Ernst, see Curt Gentry, Edgar Hoover: The Man and His Secrets (London: W.W. NortCo, 1991); Theoharis and Cox, The Boss; Harrison E. Salisbury "TStrange Correspondence of Morris Ernst and John Edgar Hoover," ThNation (Decem ber 1, 1984: 575-89).

62. Louis B. Nichols to Director, FBI, September 29,1950, FBI flle 94-4692-162.63. J. Edgar Hoover to Fu lton Oursler, M ay 2, 1952, FBI flle 94-4-692211.64. J. Edgar Hoover to Grace Oursler, May 27, 1952, FBI file 94-4-692212.65. "Great Friend of FBI Passes Away," draft article for The InvestigaJune 23, 1952, FBI nie 94-4-692-214.66. "Death Ends Career of Jack Carley," Memphis Commercial AppFebruary 21, 1962, p . 1.67. J. Edgar Hoover, handwritten note on Louis B. Nichols to ClydToison, January 5, 1943, FBI flle 94-4-6119-4X.


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70 . J. Edgar H oover to Jack Carley, July 7 ,1950, FBIfile94-4-6119-131.71. SAC M emphis to J. Edgar Hoover, December 2, 1958, FBI file 94-4-6119-896.72. D.S. Hostettler to J. Edgar Hoover, August 7, 1950, FBI file 14-47554-(unserialized).73. Jack Carley to US Senator Kenneth McKellar (D-Tenn.), undatedtranscription from A ugust 1951, FBI tile 94-4-6119-155.74. M.A. Jones to Louis B. Nichols, October 28, 1954, FBI file 94-4-6119-227, 2 .75. D.S. Hostettier to J. Edgar H oover, November 15,1954, FBIfile94-4-6119-229X.76. L.B. Nichols, telephone conversat ion w ith Jack Carley, reported inNichols to C lyde Toison, February 14, 1956, FBI file 94-4-6119-(unserial-ized).77. Louis B. Nichols to C lyde Toison, February 16,1956, FBIfile94-4-6119-265X.78. Louis B. Nichols to Clyde Toison, February 21, 1956, FBIfile94-4-6119-266.79. Fred J. Cook, "The FBI," The Nation 187 (18 October 1958): 221-280.80. Matthew Cecil, " 'Press Every Angle': FBI Public Relations andthe 'Smear Campaign' of 1958, American Journalism 19 (winter 2002): 39-58. 81. G.A. Nease, telephonic conversation with Jack Carley, repo rted in

G.A. Nease to C lyde Toison, October 31,1958, FBI file 94-4-6119-315.82. Jack C arley to J. Edgar Hoover, May 12, 1959, FBI file 94-4-6119-329.83. J. Edgar Hoover, handw ritten note on Edw ard A. Tamm to ClydeToison, October 22,1959, FBI file 94-4-6119-342.84. J. Edgar Hoover, statement on the death of Jack Carley, February20,1962, FBIfile94-4-6119-405.85. Kevin Stoker and Brad L. Raw lins, "The 'Light ' of Publicity in theProgressive Era: From Searchlight to Flashlight," Journalism History 30

(winter 2005): 183.86. Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922 reprint. New York: FreePress, 1922), 218.87. For an extensive exploration of Bernays's campaigns, see LarryTye, The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations(New York: Holt, W inston and Com pany, 1998).88. Arthur W. Page, "What Publicity and A dvertising Can Do to He lpOperation," speech presented at the AT&T General OperatingConference, May 1927 (Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in PublicCommunications).

89. A concise review of the FBI in popular culture may be found inTheoharis et al.. The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide, 261-308.


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cultural values that lent power to personal relationships with reportewere greatly diminished. The FBI lost some of its luster in the 1970s revelations about the excesses of Hoover's FBI trickled out. Moreovedirectors like Gray, Ruckelshaus, and Kelly could not match Hooveoutsized public persona and iconic cultural appeal.


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