er quietly and "under the table" or in a manner that would present it to the public so that the FBI and especially himself could come out looking like a hero. Hoover was a very complex and confusing character, much of this stemming from the secrecy that was demanded by him as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. With this job he had to set goals in two separate, but sometimes overlapping, areas. As the Director of the domestic investigation agency of the US, he had to set his sights on the criminal world wherever federal statutes had been violated. This was eventually expanded in many directions through the efforts of Hoover in the other area that he became an expert in. This was the realm of politics, which many bureaucrats do not have a part to play in, but Hoover seemed to enjoy his and many times created one if it did not exist. By achieving more political power Hoover was able to have such an influence on the federal government that he could many times shape its policies. It has been said that Hoover's political character is best explained by the ideas presented by Madison and Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. Some of these ideas reflect that "the basic structure of American democracy is predicated on the assumption that people in power will seek to become less accountable- that they will become more arbitrary, more resentful of criticism, that they will shy away from courtrooms, where their evidence can be contradicted, and instead retreat into secrecy and other classified forums in which they can claim the unchecked authority of kings ." There is no better excuse than the idea that these types of actions are merely part of human nature to want power over not just themselves but others as well. There has never been an excuse for exactly why this type of action was allowed, except that Hoover has probably been one of the greatest politicians of our nation's history and he was not a president, or Congressman, or any...
