As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.

He battled the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, encouraged McCarthy and single-handedly changed the course of history. Hired by F.D.R. to be the director of the FBI, Hoover erected the most sophisticated investigatory agency in the world.

The files that escaped the shredder have become an incredible motion picture. From the Kennedys to Martin Luther King. From cab drivers to Congressmen. From housewives to hostesses. He had something on 58 million people. It was all in his files. Now you can see how he used it.

For nearly 50 years, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover amassed secret files on America's most prominent figures, files he used to smear and control presidents and politicians. Frontline reveals how Hoover's own secret life left him open to blackmail by the Mafia and offers a startling new explanation why the FBI allowed the mob to operate unchallenged for over two decades. The American Mafia, it is asserted, had damaging evidence about Hoover's sex life and they knew about his homosexuality.

A sizzling look at the one, the only, J. Edgar Hoover-a man whose very name conjures up images of top level law enforcement and respect. Having served tirelessly as director of the FBI for more than 40 years, J. Edgar's life was chock-full of secret investigations that were as much responsible for preserving freedom and stamping out Communism as any U.S. President that ever served.