Book – Enemies – FBI

Enemies – A History of the FBI by Tim Weiner (2012) –  Pulitzer Prize winning writer and journalist Tim Weiner looks at the long history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an intelligence agency.  From the very earliest days, the Bureau made gathering information about threats to their vision of the United States a priority.  The author takes us through the the successes, the failures and the abuses of America’s most powerful domestic agency.

The image of the FBI was always as the premier crime fighting force in the country.  That was a carefully cultivated image.  Weiner makes the case that in fact, classic crime fighting was always seen as a secondary role for the FBI.  J. Edgar Hoover took a small and toothless federal agency and turned into a major player in the life of our country.  He did that by being an intelligence agency.  Beginning with the “Red Scares” following the first World War, Hoover kept his agency focused on neutralizing threats to the American status quo.  He never managed to become the intelligence and law enforcement czar that he envisioned but Hoover did manage to make himself the most feared and possibly the most powerful man in Washington, D.C.

Weiner manages to create a balanced view of this history.  He dismisses in just a couple paragraphs the salacious rumors about Hoover’s sexuality.  There is no evidence to support those stories that he finds in any way credible.  They get exactly the time they deserve.

If there’s a weakness to this history, it’s that it is a very narrow history.  While intelligence was the primary concern of Hoover’s FBI, it wasn’t the only thing they did.  The crime fighting aspect gets  little attention here.  The catastrophic failure of the FBI labs is not even mentioned.  Given that the labs had positioned themselves as the finest forensic facility in the nation (and possibly the world), the scandal that revealed that more than ten thousand cases had been improperly investigated deserved more attention.  Verdicts continue to be overturned because of that failure right.

At the same time, this is a history that makes no bones about its narrow focus.  Weiner is right in billing this as “A History of the FBI”, rather than a truly comprehensive history of the agency.  In the end, what you get is a revealing look at an agency that may be our greatest defense against the threats against our way of life, or may be that threat itself.

Why I Liked It –  Carefully researched, and well told.  This is serious history written so that everyone can enjoy it.

Why You Will Like It – History that reads like a thriller.

Rating – **** Recommended.