J. Edgar Hoover

Hoover's footprint has been indelibly stamped on the FBI. Some say that Hoover's dogged professionalism shaped a small agency in charge of regulating interstate commerce into a globally renowned crime-fighting unit. Others are just glad his 67-year reign gave rise to legislation that limits the term of the FBI director to no more than 10 years. His legacy is checkered: the man ruined the lives of innocent celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and disrupted benevolent causes like the Women's Rights Movement.