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Abstract
This article examines the highly publicized arrest of Alvin “Old Creepy” Karpis by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as an instance of domestic propaganda that followed in the tradition of World War I era strategizing. It focuses on Hoover's orchestration of a pseudo-event that metaphorically elevated him in the Roosevelt administration. He narrated a spectacle to constitute himself as a symbol of national strength. The FBI Director used the “war” metaphor to direct the symbolic meaning of the Karpis arrest against his congressional oversight. His public symbolism and media reach ultimately served to undermine constitutional checks on the FBI.
Acknowledgments
The author is especially grateful to Shawn J. Parry-Giles for her assistance with earlier drafts of the manuscript. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the National Communication Association.
Notes
“G-Men” is short for Government Men which were FBI action heroes “who combined the customary savage and strength of the traditional sleuth with a … crime-fighting style suited to the new style public enemy” (Powers, Citation1983, p. xvii).
Kate “Ma” Barker was killed by FBI agents while not wanted for any crime and became a villain posthumously.
The following is an abbreviated list of the more publicized busts. George “Machine Gun” Kelly was captured in September 1933; Fred and Kate “Ma” Barker were killed in January 1934; John Hamilton was killed in April 1934; Eddie Green was killed April 1934; Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed in May 1934; Tommy Carroll was killed in June 1934; John Dillinger was killed in July 1934 in an ambush led by Melvin Pervis; Homer Van Meter was killed in August 1934; Bruno Hauptman was captured in September 1934; Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was killed in October 1934 by a group of lawmen led by Pervis; Lester Joseph Gillis (also known as “Baby Face” Nelson) was killed in November 1934; Alvin “Old Creepy” Karpis was captured by Hoover in May Citation1936; Harry Campbell was captured by Hoover in May Citation1936; Harry Brunette was captured by Hoover in December Citation1936; and Louis “Lepke” Buchalter was captured by Hoover in August 1939.
Unless specified otherwise, all newspaper articles were cited from Record Group 65, Entry 49 (J. Edgar Hoover's Scrapbooks), National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
Hoover ordered DOJ publicist Henry Suydam to no longer furnish the press with information about special agents in November 1934 after Melvin Purvis was elevated by the press for his killings of Dillinger and Floyd. He claimed that when “publicity” was “given to one man as being the so-called ‘hero’ of a situation, it [was] likely to engender jealousies which [was] harmful to the morale and espirit de corps of [the] Division” (J. E. Hoover to H. Suydam, November 23, Citation1934, box 64).
Notably, Boorstin (Citation1962) quoted Bernays' description of the “‘counsel of public relations’” to exemplify pseudo-event planning (p. 11).
Though Whitehead was another FBI publicist, he rightfully observed that McKellar's public position significantly changed.
The press announced on April 16, 1936, that Senator McKellar's proposed appropriation cut was successful. However, the Senate overruled the cut on April 22nd. Though Hoover received his requested budget before the arrest, McKellar's continuous politicking represented a threat to the Bureau that the Karpis spectacle neutralized.
Louis Nichols, Assistant Director of the Crime Records Division, maintained an Official and Confidential file titled “Bryant, Joseph” (April 10, 1953–June 17, 1955) that detailed charges of Hoover's alleged homosexuality (reel 3) and another file titled “Director” (1933–1959) that included a subunit on his “alleged homosexuality” (reel 4). These files do not prove the orientation of Hoover's sexuality, but they do record the effort expended by the FBI to suppress even private conversations about Hoover's sexual orientation (Nichols, Citation1990).
The headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, DC, continues to be called the J. Edgar Hoover Building because a congressional bill to remove his name was defeated in 1980. Additionally, the J. Edgar Hoover Foundation promotes his legacy as one of excellence. To the neglect of ample historical evidence, Hoover has never been officially condemned for having defrauded the citizenry on any matter.