Outlaws vs the FBI: J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men
American History Hit
History Hit
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 December 2024
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What makes the ideal gangster hunter? In the 1930s, outlaws like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie & Clyde were the scourge on the justice system of the United States.
To bring them in, the lawmakers needed to try something new. And that something new was the FBI.
Don is joined by John Oller for this episode to find out how the FBI's powers were expanded over the years, the problems that they faced, and the influence of J. Edgar Hoover on the process.
John is a journalist and author, his book on this subject is 'Gangster Hunters: How Hoover's G-Men Vanquished America's Deadliest Public Enemies'.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Matthew Peaty. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
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All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media
American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | March 1934. The frames of a newsreel flickered a life in this dark theater. An FBI most wanted |
| 0:10.0 | poster projects upon the screen, offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the murderous bank robber John Dillinger. |
| 0:18.0 | $10,000 if you bring him in yourself. The footage cuts to Dillinger |
| 0:22.7 | standing with his captors at Crown Point Jail in Indiana, where he's supposed to be behind bars |
| 0:28.3 | for the killing of a police officer named O'Malley. Instead, he's chumming a cheeky smile, |
| 0:34.5 | lowering his brow against the bright lights. The audience in the theater |
| 0:38.3 | whoops and cheers. For them, this charismatic criminal has become an avenging hero, stealing from |
| 0:44.5 | the fat cat banks that have taken so much money from Americans in these depression years. On |
| 0:50.7 | screen, the law enforcement authorities who claim to be sending Dillinger to the electric chair |
| 0:55.1 | crowd in for a photo op with their favorite crook. |
| 1:00.1 | Dillinger will once again escape his bonds and make a run for him, this time in the local sheriff's |
| 1:05.6 | own car, crossing state lines. |
| 1:08.5 | But that puts him in the crosshairs of a more formidable foe. The Federal |
| 1:12.8 | Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover and his G-men on the case, and hot on Dillinger's |
| 1:20.3 | trail. |
| 1:38.3 | Music Good day, glad and grateful you're listening. I'm Don Wildman, and this is American History Hit. |
| 1:42.8 | We have done a number of episodes on the series on various angles of the FBI. |
| 1:48.8 | See past episodes of our Outlaw sub-series covering the lives of John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde, among others, still on the horizon. |
| 1:51.1 | We've also described in detail the career of J. Edgar Hoover. |
| 1:54.4 | But how the original Bureau of Investigation became the Federal Bureau of Investigation is a very |
| 2:00.1 | specific tale, newly told in a book |
| 2:02.5 | released last month entitled Gangster Hunters, How Hoover's G-Men Vanquished America's Deadliest |
... |
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