One example of this was his investigation of the civil rights movement, specifically Martin Luther King, Jr. Beginning in the early 1960s and in full force at the time of King’s assassination, Hoover and the FBI conducted surveillance and intelligence operations, frequently crossing the line to harassment, with the goal of discrediting King as the leader of the civil rights movement as well as limiting the progress of the cause.  While modern scholars agree that Hoover’s power was immense and that he created an FBI answerable only to himself, the extent to which the investigation of King was an obsessive, personal fixation of Hoover’s or a larger, more structural product of society remains a subject of historical debate. 
	FBI interest in Martin Luther King, Jr., began as a result of his relationship with Stanley Levison, whom the FBI considered linked to the Communist Party, and the possibility that Communists were influencing King’s decisions and actions. In a memo dated May 22, 1961, King’s brief biography and his possible connections with communism bear two notations by Hoover. In response to the statement that the FBI has not actually investigated King, Hoover asked “Why not?,” and requested more information regarding a speech King gave at an alleged “Communist Party training school seminar.”  This beginning, where the FBI sought increased information about a possible Communist, illustrates the lens through which Hoover saw the world. It also legitimizes the initial steps taken by the FBI, as investigating the Communist threat was a core responsibility of the agency and supported by a population living in a Cold War mentality. Upon the discovery of the relationship between King and Levison in 1962, Hoover concluded that King was guilty of association. Levison had been on the FBI’s radar for a decade as a involved with the Communist Party in the early 1950s, and Hoover promptly informed Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General and Hoover’s immediate superior. As surveillance of Levison increased exponentially, with wiretaps and physical intelligence being employed, so did the information on King and Levison. As Hoover kept the Robert and John Kennedy informed on the situation, the President and Attorney General grew concerned with the implications of either the allegations being true or creating controversy, impeding their civil rights agenda and other political maneuvers. This culminated in 1963 with President Kennedy telling King bluntly to get rid of Levison and another suspected Communist, to which Levison and King acquiesced, at least in terms of direct communication, in order to maintain the alliance with the White House.  In the background, however, Hoover pushed hard to obtain approval to expand his investigation.
	The instigation of this effort, however, came from Robert Kennedy. In July of 1963 Kennedy asked the FBI to determine whether placing “technical surveillance” on King was feasible at his home and office at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 