WI: Hoover Retired in 1965

J. Edgar Hoover was approaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 on January 1, 1965. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson waved the mandatory federal retirement age for Hoover, allowing him to serve as head of the FBI until his death. This is a decision that Jacqueline Kennedy stated she did not believe her husband would have done were he alive. Frequently, there has been an argument in these discussions that if he were not kept on, he would have thrown out every attack he could to remain in office. However, that presumes that Hoover leaving would have been pushing him out of power, when it was not. Allowing him to retire would have been simply the passive fact of the matter as it was, and going out of his way to keep him on required an active effort. Though criticized for digging up dirt on his enemies (assumed or real), Hoover was certainly a powerful ally, which is why he was kept on. However, letting him retire opens the door for a new director, and one to the administration's liking. Had it been up to Kennedy, my assumption is that he would have preferred William C. Sullivan. However, it has been many years since I researched this topic.

With that in mind, what if Hoover had retired upon reaching the age of 70 in 1965? Whether it had been Kennedy, Johnson, or perhaps another president.
 
I also want to point out that Sullivan is certainly no saint. Researching him, there are positive points that seem like he was a liberal voice of reason. However, that is undercut by his heinous reaction and actions toward Martin Luther King. He was the FBI attack dog against King, he thought King was a phony and hated him, and I believe he was the one that wrote the letter to King that hinted he should kill himself.
 
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It depends on how he retired. If JFK, LBJ, or some other president made him retire, Hoover would metaphorically be standing outside the tent, pissing in.
 
It depends on how he retired. If JFK, LBJ, or some other president made him retire, Hoover would metaphorically be standing outside the tent, pissing in.

Well he would not be forced into retirement. He'd just be retiring. There was not an option of keeping him on, or retiring whenever he felt like it. 70 was the mandatory retirement age. Johnson had to go out of his way to make an exception in waiving it for Hoover. And he did so because, though neither were friends in the sense we understand it, they used one another masterfully. The Kennedys didn't have that relationship with Hoover. Kennedy would be more likely to give him a send off party January 1st, gather up all the files he could just in case, and sit Bill Sullivan at his desk while the chair was still warm.
 
I have read somewhere that an RFK ally in the Bureau, Courtney Evans, would have taken over from Hoover. Evans was also a specialist in organized crime.
 
Well he would not be forced into retirement. He'd just be retiring. There was not an option of keeping him on, or retiring whenever he felt like it. 70 was the mandatory retirement age
Yes, but rules don't apply to J Edgar Hoover, he's got all those juicy blackmail files, you know. Applying the same rules to him as to everybody else would come as a distinct shock to him (probably) and cause him to go, kicking and screaming.

'forced into retirement' sounds perfectly appropriate for the situation to me.
 
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