Hoover’s death starts a race to control his secret personal files. But his power extends beyond the grave.

J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. He’s been dead 50 years and still his shadow looms over the US. Today’s fears of a ‘deep state’ - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to him. In the first of an 8-part series, Emily shows how though his job was to enforce the law...he would not always be bound by it.

Correction note: The programme incorrectly identifies the Church Committee as the Church Commission.

Producer: Neal Razzell
Research: Louise Byrne
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sound: Tom Brignell