The Federal Bureau of Investigation

History of the FBI

During the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, Attorney General Charles Bonaparte created within the Department of Justice a corps of special agents that consisted of former detectives and Secret Service men. In May 1908, when it became illegal for the Department of Justice to hire or engage any Secret Service personnel, Attorney General Bonaparte appointed Chief Examiner Stanley Finch as the leader of a group of 34 agents, which later became known as the Bureau of Investigation.

The Mann Act of 1910, which prohibited the interstate transportation of women for immoral purposes, greatly increased the task of the Bureau of Investigation. Over the next few years, it expanded to [Page 175]more than 300 agents and 300 support personnel. Field offices existed in major ...