The Sordid History of the FBI's Harassment of Martin Luther King Jr., at the Direction of J. Edgar Hoover — and the Pleasure of Lyndon B. Johnson

Roger Stone and Phillip F. Nelson reports:

Amidst all the brouhaha related to the allegedly “false” portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson in the movie Selma caused by the LBJ Library’s director, Mark Updegrove, it is noteworthy to call to the public’s attention how the “LBJ defenders” have attempted to absolve President Johnson from involvement with that sordid chapter in American history. Updegrove’s article was quickly followed by one from Joseph Califano, printed in the Washington Post, that even claimed the Selma march was Lyndon Johnson’s idea. All of it was quite opposite of the truth, and no amount of “LBJ revisionism” will make it fact.

From the time that Martin Luther King Jr.’s name came to national prominence in December, 1955, J. Edgar Hoover began monitoring his activities, even as King and his closest associates mistakenly presumed, according to Andrew Young, that “we thought of the FBI as our friends, the only hope we had.” By 1959, Hoover had decided, on his own and without higher authorization, to order his agents to burglarize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) offices to obtain personal information about Dr. King and install telephone wire taps as well as “bugs” to record non-telephonic conversations and assorted other noises.

An article well worth your time. After all, J. Edgar Hoover couldn't have operated the way he did without politicians unconcerned about the U.S. Constitution.