Mr. Jonny Cochran 802 South Sixth Street Kingfisher, Oklahoma Dear Jonny: Your letter of February 6,1953, has been received, and I am indeed happy to learn of your interest in the welfare of our country.

In this regard, I do hope you will study hard in school in order that you may realize your desire to work for the government and help fight communism when you become older.

“I am enclosing some material which I thought you might like to have.”

The typewritten letter was signed in Hoover’s own handwriting.

Cochran placed the letter in a picture frame and has kept it as a keepsake for the past 72 years.

During his visit with newspaper staffers, Jon commented that he and wife, Dorene, celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on Tuesday, June 3. Jon will observe his 86th birthday on Aug. 26. Dorene didn’t report her birthday, or age.

The FBI, Then and Now

J. Edgar Hoover founded the FBI in 1935, the successor to an organization, Bureau of Investigation, established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, a response to the growth of 100 cities with over 50,000 population, coinciding with an increase in crime.

The FBI quickly became recognized as the premier law enforcement agency in the U.S.

Hoover led the organization for 48 years, serving until his death May 2, 1972.

Under the “History” portion of a Google search, it relates that under Director Hoover, the Bureau grew in responsibility and importance, becoming an integral part of the national government and an icon in American popular culture.

In the 1930s, the FBI attacked the violent crime by gangsters and implemented programs to professionalize U.S. law enforcement through training and forensic assistance. For example, the Bureau opened its Technical Laboratory to provide forensic analysis on Bureau investigations as well as services to other federal, state and local law enforcement.

The FBI remained basically a nonpartisan agency with Hoover being retained under Democrat and Republican administrations. That record nose-dived under the Biden administration, which used the FBI to attack those the administration deemed its enemies.

John Nantz, retired special agent, recently discussed the current revelations about the FBI by new director Kash Patel as debridement guided by facts and not narrative, calling the agency now a rebalanced FBI focused on a single mission: “keeping America safe.”