NEWSEUM: FBI Turns 106 Years Old Today

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) turns 106 years old today. Before the FBI was established in 1908, investigations went through the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice lacked internal investigators for years, and any investigators needed were often hired detectives or Secret Services personnel.

Attorney General Charles Bonaparte wanted more control over investigations and disliked pulling personnel from other places that didn’t report to him. Bonaparte appointed special investigative agents within the Department of Justice in early 1908 to circumvent this issue. On July 26 of the same year he ordered agents to report to their chief examiner. This date marks the establishment of the bureau.

Then-president Theodore Roosevelt and Attorney General Bonaparte both suggested the FBI become a permanent bureau before their terms were over. The FBI has indeed followed countless investigations since its establishment. Although in its early years the FBI tackled mostly financial crimes, it has investigated gangsters, mobs and acts of terror and continues to do so.

The relationship between the FBI and the news media is sometimes cooperative and sometimes contentious. Our FBI exhibit showcases the most riveting, headline-grabbing FBI investigations over the last century. Come take your picture with life-size gangster stand-ups or see artifacts like the Unabomber’s cabin and engine parts from a plane that crashed into the World Trade Center…(read more) Newseum.

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