Giordano, Henry

Henry Luke Giordano (1914–2003) served as the last commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1962 until 1968, when it merged with the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control to form the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. An experienced federal agent, Giordano presided over an difficult period at the Federal Bureau of Narcotics that ended with a scandalous flurry of resignations and charges of corruption.

Giordano had been the deputy director of the bureau from 1958 to 1962, under Harry J. Anslinger, who served as director for 32 years (since [Page 317]its inception) and left big shoes to fill. A pharmacist from California, Giordano had joined the bureau as a junior agent in 1941, at the age of 27, and spent years ...