J. Edgar Hoover

The founding director of the FBI and head of the organization during the time of the Alger Hiss investigation, Hoover was one of the most powerful men in Washingtion for nearly half a century. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that Hoover personally directed his agents to ensure Hiss's conviction. Tens of thousands of pages of FBI files have been released but often with significant amounts of deletions. Such information continues to be withheld from the public.