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Abstract
This paper compares political and social histories of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It argues that both perspectives are equally essential in understanding the Bureau’s complexity. By looking at historical sources surrounding the FBI’s Watergate investigation, the paper compares insights emerging from traditional sources of political history such as presidential and Congressional libraries as well as Bureau archives with the social history that emerges from agents’ oral accounts. In analyzing the sources that emerge from both a top-down and bottom-up view of the Bureau, it becomes clear that power is diffuse across the organization and resides not only in such obvious places as that of the director and senior leadership but also in unexpected places like that of a new agent. Juxtaposing the two types of histories shows that, at least sometimes, two very different depictions of the Bureau can emerge regarding a single high-profile case.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 At one time, the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI made available an online depository of agents’ oral histories. Presently, the archives are not available in a digital format. See https://socxfbi.org/page/OralHistory, accessed May 20, 2020.
2 Mindermann interview with author, August 16, 2019.
3 Application for Appointment by Richard Milhous Nixon, April 23, 1937, FBI Vault.
4 Years of correspondence between then-Senator Nixon and Director Hoover can be found in the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum Archives, Pre-presidential Papers, Box 19, “Special Files: J. Edgar Hoover, 1949–1961” and Prepresidential Papers, Box 20, “Special Files: Hoover (cont’d).”
5 See Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Ehrlichman, Box 23. Intelligence Memoranda—Huston, Intelligence Memorandum 1, October 29, 1969.
6 In June of 2020, the National Security Archive released declassified documents related to the Huston Plan. Edited by John Prados and Luke A. Nichter, the release signaled the largest disclosure of the plan to the public since its creation. See https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2020-06-25/spying-americans-new-release-infamous-huston-plan.
7 See US Congress, Senate. The Huston Plan: Hearing Before the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities of the United States. 94th Cong., 1st sess., September 23–25, 1975.
8 See Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Ehrlichman, Box 23. White House Special Files Staff Member and Office Files, “J. Edgar Hoover, Company President,” Scenario for Conversation with the Director.
9 See Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Ehrlichman, Box 23. White House Special Files Staff Member and Office Files, “J. Edgar Hoover, Company President,” Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, “Deterioration of the FBI.”
10 Transcript of a recording of a meeting between President Nixon and John Ehrlichman, February 14, 1973 from 5:34 – 6:00 pm, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
11 See Richard Nixon Presidential Museum and Library, L. Patrick Gray, Papers of L. Patrick Gray, Box 1, Speeches, July 4–October 17, 1972.
12 Transcript of a recording of a meeting between President Nixon and John Ehrlichman, February 14, 1973 from 5:34 – 6:00 pm, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
13 U.S Congress, Senate, FBI Statutory Charter: Hearings on S. 1612 Before the Senate Comm. On the Judiciary, 95 Cong., 2nd Sess. (1978), 335.
14 FBI Airtel from Acting Director to Washington Field, Atlanta, Alexandria, Baltimore, Boston, Kansas City, Houston, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia, Re: James Walter McCord, Jr.; Bernard L. Barker; Et. Al. Burglary of Democratic Party National Headquarters, 6/17/72 Interception of Communications, 6-20-72.
15 John Clynick interview with author, November 24, 2019.
16 FBI Teletype, 6-29-72 from Washington Field Office to Acting Director.
17 Daniel Mahan interview with author, October 19, 2019.
18 Angelo Lano interview with author, August 22, 2019.
19 Paul Magallanes interview with author, September 11, 2019.
20 John Mindermann email to author on January 10, 2020.
21 Angelo Lano Oral History, 2009, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum; John Mindermann email to author on January 10, 2020; Paul Magallanes interview with author, September 11, 2019.
22 FBI Teletype, 6-29-72 from Washington Field Office to Acting Director.
23 Angelo Lano email to author, September 10, 2019.
24 FBI Teletype, 6-29-72 from Washington Field Office to Acting Director. In the margin notes, Gray pointedly asked why an agent was using such strong language to request White House interviews. Because FBI protocol at the time meant that memorandums were attributable only to the case and not the agent who drafted them, Gray called a meeting upon his return, angrily demanding to know who authored the memo.
25 FBI Memorandum FD 302 Special Agents Paul P. Magallanes and John W. Minderman [sic] interview Judy Hoback on July 18, 1972. Date of Transcription—July 19, 1972.
26 Paul Magallanes interview with author, September 11, 2019.
27 FBI Affidavit of SA Angelo J. Lano, Washington Field Office, October 26, 1972.
28 FBI Airtel from SAC WFO to Acting Director, 10-26-72.
29 Daniel Mahan interview with author, October 19, 2019.
30 Angelo Lano interview with author, August 22, 2019.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Melissa Graves
Melissa Graves is assistant professor of intelligence studies at The Citadel: The Military College of South Carolina. She has a Ph.D. in history and J.D. from The University of Mississippi. Her book, Nixon’s FBI: Hoover, Watergate, and a Bureau in Crisis (Lynne Rienner, 2020) analyzes the organization’s challenges under a single presidency. Email: [email protected]