Bryan Burrough Writes a Unique Book
Never before has a book based on the 1930s crime spree in the United States ever been documented where it combined the likes of:
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Ma Barker
- Baby Face Nelson
- Pretty Boy Floyd
- John Dillinger
- J. Edgar Hoover of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI
In 1932, the Bureau of Investigation at the Justice Department (later became the FBI) did not have the power of arrest, nor permitted to carry firearms. Their main responsibilities included:
- Crimes on Indian reservations
- Crimes in Alaska
- Returning escaped prisoners to prison
On June 17, 1933, in Kansas City, Missouri, a half dozen-law enforcement officers including four investigators were returning Frank Nash to Leavenworth State Penitentiary when a group of men led by Pretty Boy Floyd ambushed them. Killed in the ambush were several of the enforcement officers including one investigator. The event, referred to as the Kansas City Massacre, set off the making of the FBI.
J. Edger Hoover Proclaims War on Crime
A year and a half after the Kansas City Massacre, as part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, the United States Congress gave authority to federal agents to make arrests and to carry firearms. Prior to the event in Missouri, Hoover was on the verge of losing his job as head of the Bureau of Investigation, but with the occurrence of the massacre, he saw a chance to let his light shine and aggressively began to go after the villains of the 1930s crime wave.
John Dillinger Appealed to the Public
Of the five mentioned gangsters in Burrough’s book and according to the FBI's official website, Hoover wanted John Dillinger the most. Dillinger had charisma and public appeal.
The Great Depression caused many people to lose their homes to greedy bankers, which influenced the public to see Dillinger as a Twentieth Century Robin Hood. In 1934, a photo taken with Dillinger and the District Attorney, Robert Estill, standing in front of the Crown Point Jail in Indiana shows Dillinger nonchalantly resting his arm on DA's shoulder. According to Burrough, this photo “enraged Hoover”.
Not only did Dillinger and his gang rob banks they also took machine guns, rifles, revolvers, ammunition, and several bulletproof vests from police arsenals in Auburn and Peru, Indiana.
The FBI refers to Dillinger as notorious and a vicious thief. During his crime spree, he only killed one person and that was during a bank robbery in Chicago, Illinois. The person happened to be a police officer.
Ana Sage, a Romanian immigrant, eventually set up Dillinger. Out of fear of deportation, Sage agreed to wear an orange dress the night she, Polly Hamilton, and Dillinger went to see the movie “Manhattan Melodrama” at the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The orange dress helped police determine which person was Dillinger when walking out of the theatre. At 10:30 p.m. on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI agent Melvin Purvis.
J. Edgar Hoover's Legacy
Public Enemies shows a young Hoover before he let his arrogance control him. By the time of his death in 1972, many people feared J. Edgar Hoover and the things he knew. According to the May 15, 1972 Times Magazine, Hoover’s “pride and prejudices were strong, especially where the autonomy of his bureau was concerned. With Attorney General Robert Kennedy he fought a battle of wills over FBI operations and their animosity was obvious.”
Sources:
Burrough, Bryan. Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-1934. New York: Penguin Books, 2004
Times. The Long Reign of J. Edgar Hoover. May 15, 1972
The Official FBI Website
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