AllMovie

This documentary, part of the 20th Century With Mike Wallace series from CBS News and the History Channel, explores the dark era and shaky present and future of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Narrated by series host and CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace, this episode gives the history of the reign of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, when the FBI was mostly about dark secrets and covert, hidden activities. After Hoover's departure, the agency tried to regain some of its respectability as a law enforcement arm of the government. 20th Century With Mike Wallace looks at how the agency had more years of bad press during the 1990s. In this decade, many controversial FBI cases somehow went awry, including the Waco attack on the Branch Davidians, the Atlanta Olympics bombing, and the standoff at Ruby Ridge. Talks with FBI insiders reveal that the agency has deep-seated issues to deal with in order to regain the trust that it lost with Americans.