J. Edgar Hoover - Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight It

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Text originally published in 1958 under the same title.

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MASTERS OF DECEIT

THE STORY OF COMMUNISM IN AMERICA AND HOW TO FIGHT IT

BY

J. EDGAR HOOVER

Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Contents

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation explains the startling facts about the major menace of our time, communism : what it is, how it works, what its aims are, the real dangers it poses, and what loyal American citizens must know to protect their freedom.

MASTERS OF DECEIT is a powerful and informative booka firsthand account of American communism from its beginnings to the present, written by a man more intimately familiar with the complete story than any other American. Mr. Hoover shows the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party, USA: who the communists are, what they claim, why people be-come communists and why some break away. He describes life within the Party, communist strategy and tactics, methods of mass agitation and underground infiltration, espionage, sabotage, and its treatment of minorities. The picture of what life in this country would be under communism (toward which thou-sands of misguided Americans actually are working now! ) is vivid and shocking.

The forceful, driving message of this book is clarified with many incidents and anecdotes, definitions of communist terms, key dates, and a list of international communist organizations and publications which illustrate the communist Trojan horse in action. And it concretely outlines just what you can do now to combat the evils of the false religion of communism, so that you can stay free.

MASTERS OF DECEIT is one of the most important books of our timea warning of the clear and present danger to our way of life.

EVERY CITIZEN has a duty to learn more about the menace that threatens his future, his home, his children, the peace of the worldand that is why I have written this book.

If you will take the time to inform yourself, you will find that communism holds no mysteries. Its leaders have blueprinted their objectives. The time is far too late not to recognize this ism for what it is: a threat to humanity and to each of us.

Moreover, there is the sobering fact that since the end of World War II we have spent billions of dollars to defend ourselves from communist aggression. This burden will continue to mount until the world is free from the communist menace.

This book is an attempt to explain communismwhat it is, how it works, what its aims are, and, most important of all, what we need to know to combat it.

In writing this book I have been guided by many years of study and observation of the communist conspiracy in action in the United States.

As a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1919, I was assigned to prepare a legal brief on the newly formed Communist Party and Communist Labor Party. This necessitated an extensive and penetrating study.

The amount of material was voluminous: Party statements, resolutions, platforms, news accounts, manifestoes, the very first documents of American communism. I studied also the writings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin as well as the activities of the Third International.

In this brief, which was submitted to the Attorney General, I concluded:

These doctrines threaten the happiness of the community, the safety of every individual, and the continuance of every home and freside. They would destroy the peace of the country and thrust it into a condition of anarchy and lawlessness and immorality that passes imagination.

Today, as I write these words, my conclusions of 1919 remain the same. Communism is the major menace of our time. Today, it threatens the very existence of our Western civilization.

In November, 1917, the Bolsheviks seized control in Russia, gaining state power for the first time. That breach has today widened into a vast communist empire. The attack is still being pressed. International communism will never rest until the whole world, including the United States, is under the hammer and sickle. This is what has happened to the Russian people, now held in bondage, who would be free if they could. (I wish to distinguish here and elsewhere in this book between these unfortunate millions and the small clique of communist rulers of Soviet Russia.)

Communism is more than an economic, political, social, or philosophical doctrine. It is a way of life; a false, materialistic religion. It would strip man of his belief in God, his heritage of freedom, his trust in love, justice, and mercy. Under communism, all would become, as so many already have, twentieth-century slaves.

Ever since 1917, I have observed the rise of International communism with great concern, particularly communist efforts to infiltrate and infect our American way of life. The Communist Party, USA, started in 1919 as a small, disorganized group of fanatics. Today, it is a dedicated, conspiratorial group operating under modern conditions as an arm of revolution. There is no doubt that America is now the prime target of international communism.

Obviously, this book does not pretend to disclose a body of material known exclusively to the FBI. What it does express is the hope that all of us may develop a shared body of rudimentary knowledge about communism: a body of knowledge that we dare not be without. It attempts, in almost primer form, to set down certain fundamentals of the day-to-day operations of the communist Party, USA: how a communist meeting is conducted; how a top Party official lives; what goes on in the underground; how discipline is enforced; how Party members collect money, attend indoctrination schools, hand out propaganda leaflets.; Party members are shown organizing agitation campaigns, infiltrating noncommunist organizations, and manipulating communist fronts. The best way to appreciate the nature and objectives of an enemy is to observe him in action.

The Communist Party, never forget, is a state within a state, It has its own system of courts, legislative assemblies, schools, and press. It enforces its own laws, has its own standards of conduct, and offers its own road to Utopia. The Party member may physically reside in the United States, but he lives in a communist world.

The Party, moreover, serves as a transmission belt whereby the Soviet mentality is being imposed, both directly and indirectly, on thousands of Americans. The Partys objective is to produce a politically mature comradecommunist manwho will work ceaselessly for the revolution that would make our United States part of the Soviet system.