Source:
NYT/APBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Eugene McCarthy ran for president in 1968, he pledged to fire J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director who had outlasted presidents from Calvin Coolidge to John F. Kennedy. Before long, McCarthy's calls for new FBI leadership were cataloged and commented upon by FBI officials in a nearly 500-page file, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The file became available after McCarthy's death in December 2005.
Much of McCarthy's file focuses on law enforcement duties surrounding the 1968 campaign, when McCarthy helped galvanize opposition to the Vietnam War by challenging President Lyndon B. Johnson for the 1968 Democratic nomination. The Minnesota senator's strong showing in the New Hampshire primary led to Johnson's withdrawal from the race.
According to McCarthy's file, FBI agents looked into death threats against the candidate, and kept records of his public travel and demonstrations. In the process, they also paid close attention to McCarthy's calls to replace Hoover, collecting several news clippings, letters and memos on the subject.
For example, the FBI's Special Agent in Charge in Indianapolis wrote to Hoover on April 22, 1968 to inform him of a speech at Indiana University in which McCarthy said the U.S. should ''re-examine the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and even reflect on who its director is.''...
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