In 1908 a group of Special Agents started the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the large contribution of Attorney General Charles Bonaparte during the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Bonaparte and Roosevelt had first met when they both spoke at a meeting of the Baltimore Civil Service Reform Association. Roosevelt, at the time was the Civil Service Commissioner, boasted of his reforms in federal law enforcement (Kessler 5). It was 1892, and this was a time when law enforcement was often much more political rather than professional. Roosevelt was very persistent of his wanting that Border Patrol applicants must pass marksmanship tests, with the most accurate individuals getting the jobs. Even in the late 1890"s and early 1900"s physical test taking was still a very effective and often .

             used method in selecting the "best" men for jobs. In this case the best marksmen were selected. Following Roosevelt on the program, Bonaparte countered and questioned Roosevelt"s choice of selection, that target shooting was not the way to get the best men. "Roosevelt should have had the men shoot at each other, and given the jobs to the survivors." Roosevelt and Bonaparte both were "Progressives." The two men shared the same conviction that efficiency and expertise, not political connections, should determine who could best serve in government (Douglass 23). Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States in 1901; four years later, he appointed Charles Bonaparte to be his Attorney General. In 1908, Bonaparte applied their Progressive philosophy to the Department of Justice by creating a corps of Special Agents. It had neither a name nor an officially designated leader other than the Attorney General. Yet, these former detectives and Secret Service men were the first forerunners of the FBI.

             Today, most Americans take for granted that our country needs a good effective federal investigative service which looks out for the common good, but in 1908, the establishment of this kind of agency at a national .