IN HIS INAUGURAL address on March 4, 1929, President Herbert Hoover told the American people that his top priorities for the next four years were prosperity and freedom. Hoover said that he was particularly concerned about high levels of unemployment. He believed that the national government should take a greater role in promoting education and public health. Many historians believe that if Hoover had served the country at any other time than the coming of the Great Depression, he might have been considered one of the best presidents.

Although it has received little attention historically, Hoover's greatest achievement as president may have been his reform of the federal criminal justice system. Hoover had a personal as well as a presidential interest in the administration of justice ...