J. Edgar: The Most Powerful Man in the World Page #2

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Imagine how quickly we could find them

if they committed a crime.

Lt's all very impressive, John.

Well, would you like to stay here

or would you like to go somewhere else?

Lt's up to you.

Mr. Hoover.

I'm not sure where you think

this is headed.

Right, of course.

Miss Gandy.

I know we've only known each other

a brief time...

but you would

make the finest of companions.

Your strength, your character,

your education.

Are you poking fun at me?

No. No, no, no. No, no, of course not.

Then please, Mr. Hoover, stand up.

I'd appreciate it

if you wouldn't share this...

with any of the other women

in the typing pool.

No, of course not.

All right. May I ask what... What...

What particular flaw

you seem to find in my character?

No. We just met.

Right, of course.

But I believe that I am a fast

and accurate judge of character.

We've gone out three times,

but I don't need more.

Most people do, but I don't.

I see people right off for what they are.

And please, call me Edgar.

Lt's what my mother uses.

- Edgar?

- Yes?

Can you keep a secret?

Yes. Of course. You have my word.

I'm not interested in getting married.

My work comes first.

Hmm.

Then perhaps you would consider

a position as my personal secretary.

Yes.

Shall we?

The book.

Right.

After you.

I helped organize that library

just as I did this Bureau.

And many said we didn't need either.

You see, innovators

aren't often celebrated.

Not at first.

Miss Gandy.

The nitwit Kennedy child

rang his baby buzzer again.

Perhaps he'd like a fresh diaper.

Should I find out what

the Attorney General needs?

No, I want the completed transcripts

of the Los Angeles recordings.

When I receive those,

then we'll answer his buzzer.

Very good.

Edgar, Agent Smith is back.

He, uh, has some questions

about the Palmer Raids.

Should I tell him to go?

Helen, do you like him?

I don't have an opinion of him yet.

Hmm.

Well, I like him. I trust him.

- I'll set him up in your outer office.

- No. No, no, no.

Bring him a desk in here.

But in 1920,

how could I protect us from anyone?

Before I moved to this office,

we were powerless.

We had few federal laws,

no right to carry firearms...

and Congress liked it that way.

Criminals ran free, but there was no law

against keeping track of them...

so I made a decision on my own.

I compiled note cards

and over five thousand names...

and called the one department

in Washington...

that still held a small piece

of untested power.

Was that the Department of Labor?

The power to deport, sir?

But only to deport those

who checked two boxes.

They had to be foreign citizens and they

had to be working to harm our country.

And they cooperated with you?

Of course not.

No one freely shares power

in Washington, D.C., Agent Smith.

There is no law

under which you can issue a warrant...

for the arrest of an alien...

when I have certified that

he is subject to deportation?

Without any evidence,

Mr. Attorney General, no.

- There exists a due process of law.

- Due process of law?

- What about the threat?

- There might be a threat...

Might be?

Fine. There is a threat to our country.

But with no proof of a crime,

there's no cause for deportation.

We'll see about that.

You'll be hearing from me.

But one of their heads was a Mr. Caminetti.

He was weary of our Justice Department,

but he hated one person even more.

I am a revolutionist by nature...

and as such...

I claim the right to rebel

and resist invasion...

by all means, force included.

Emma Goldman. She was the hero

of the radical movement.

If I could hand Caminetti Emma Goldman,

he would deport her without a thought.

But she was a citizen.

Would you like to stop, sir?

No.

I know it's hard for you to imagine today,

but there was a time...

when the average American feared

for their safety and survival, Agent Smith.

In Chicago, a coal strike started

by communist labor shut off all the power.

Riots followed.

And on Armistice Day

in Centralia, Washington...

veterans fresh back from the war

were murdered by radicals.

The red revolution had arrived on our soil.

No, no. We can't take them down

one by one.

They'll go underground and we'll have

a bomb inside every senator's mailbox.

We need to have a simultaneous raid,

hitting all of them at once.

- Who are "they"?

- You're here to find out.

Now listen, I want a card on every

radical person in this country.

Against the wall, gentlemen.

I wanna know who, where they're from,

what group, what they say.

Who have already committed crimes?

I care more whether they intend to.

Against the wall, gentlemen, thank you.

- How many are on our team?

- Only you four for now.

I'll have locks installed.

No, Miss Gandy.

That would bring too much attention.

Nothing is to be alphabetically ordered.

I want the cards to be broken down

into subjects and categories.

Now, this system should be easy enough

if explained.

If not, finding information

should prove impossible.

And trust no one,

not even our fellow agents.

Half our colleagues are on both sides

of the payroll.

But the crimes we're investigating

aren't crimes, they're ideas.

Well, if your idea...

Against the wall, gentlemen. Thank you.

If your idea is to come into our country

and plot the overthrow of our government...

then, yes, indeed, that is a crime.

Mrs. Goldman married a U.S. citizen.

The man she married hasn't visited

her once in prison, yet this man...

the man she's lived with since her

wedding, he visits nightly.

What happens when we raid this

list of yours and find nothing?

No guns, no bombs,

just innocent people deported.

From every corner of this nation,

the American people...

have urged the Attorney General

to do something about this...

and return the United States

back to peace.

Now, I'm happy to send your objections

to Mr. Palmer himself...

but, in the meantime,

expose Miss Goldman's sham marriage...

and you will change that suit of yours.

- Pardon me, John?

- Your suit, sir, your suit.

This isn't a saloon.

Have respect for yourself,

but, more importantly...

have respect for this department.

Miss Gandy?

Miss Goldman, are you an anarchist?

I decline to answer.

Do you deny that you are an anarchist?

I decline to answer.

Do you believe in the overthrow

of the government of the United States?

I refuse to answer.

Do you advocate the assassination

of public officials?

I refuse to answer.

This alien has refused to answer questions

pertaining to the charges in the warrant...

notwithstanding the fact that

every opportunity was afforded her.

I recommend deportation.

And just like that, we had our precedent.

Edgar, should I arrange our travel

to Paterson on Valentine's Day?

Yes, of course, Miss Gandy.

I took the train to Paterson,

New Jersey, on February 14th.

If I could catch these

radicals red-handed...

then the Labor Department would have

to put them all on boats back home.

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