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When Hoover took over the Bureau in 1924, President Coolidge's new team
was cleaning up the corruption of the Harding administration. Hoover was looked upon
as a progressive, honest, efficient and thoroughly modern manager. Those who knew
what a miserable state the Bureau was in wondered if even the tireless, ambitious and
driven Hoover could rescue it from the morass it had become.
Attorney General Harlan Stone, who guided Hoover every step of the
rebuilding process, told Hoover that he wanted the staff cut drastically and the budget
sharply reduced. Stone made it abundantly clear that the Bureau was to stop
collecting information on lifestyles and politics and concentrate on investigating
violations of the law. The domestic surveillance activities of the General
Intelligence Division were for the most part suspended until 1936 when Roosevelt ordered
that they be resurrected.
Hoover cut the staff from 441 agents in 1924 to 339 agents in 1929.
He focused all of his energies on making the Bureau the model of good organization and
efficiency. A few days after taking over, Hoover had gone through the personnel
files and identified those agents who should be fired. Sixty-one employees were let
go in the first year and five of the fifty-three field offices were closed and many more
would follow. He gave back $300,000 of his $2.4 million budget appropriation.
Agents that didn't get fired were retrained. The hiring standards
for new agents were raised considerably, requiring training in law or accounting. A
training school was reestablished for various skills and, more importantly, to learn the
new Bureau procedures and behavior code. Hoover was determined to make the Bureau
into the most elite law enforcement corps in the world. Promotion would be based
upon efficiency and performance -- unless you were related to somebody very important to
the Bureau or Hoover.
Gentry points out that Hoover's own standards "became those of the
agents, accountants, secretaries, file clerks, and other Bureau employees. Nor was
it enough to adhere to the letter of the law in such matters; even the appearance
of improper conduct was to be avoided." During Prohibition, the Director made
it perfectly clear that he was abstaining from alcohol and that Bureau employees better do
the same thing or face dismissal.
Having the right caliber of agents was only half the challenge.
Equally important was managing them and measuring how well the agents did. He
increased their authority, but complete accountability went along with it. He
developed a system of record keeping and supervision that was unique to a government
entity. Control and standardization was the theme that ran through all of his
procedures and rules. "No single individual built the Bureau, but one
individual can destroy it." Not while he was alive.
During the 1920's, Hoover gained weight and he developed ulcer-like
stomach symptoms. His doctor had him drinking a quart of acidophilus milk every day
and smoking a cigarette to help him relax after each meal.
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| T.Frank Baughman (FBI)
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The former Sunday school teacher evolved into a very sharp
dresser. He and his close buddy Frank Baughman had a particular fondness for white
linen suits. He always had a silk handkerchief in his pocket that matched his tie.
Antique collecting was becoming one of his favorite hobbies. | 
