Editing Stanley Finch

{{Short description|First director of the FBI, from 1908 to 1912}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2007}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name        = Stanley Finch
|image       = Stanley Wellington Finch, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly left.jpg
|office      = 1st [[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|Chief of the Bureau of Investigation]]
|president   = [[Theodore Roosevelt]]<br>[[William Howard Taft]]
|term_start  = July 26, 1908
|term_end    = April 30, 1912
|predecessor = Position established
|successor   = [[A. Bruce Bielaski]]
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1872|7|20}}
|birth_place = [[Monticello, New York|Monticello]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
|death_date  = {{death date and age|1951|11|22|1872|7|20}}
|death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|education   = [[George Washington University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]], [[Master of Laws|LLM]])
}}
'''Stanley Wellington Finch''' (July 20, 1872 – 22 November 1951) was the first director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|Bureau of Investigation]] (1908–1912), which would eventually become the FBI.

== Life ==
Finch was born in [[Monticello, New York]], in 1872. He became a clerk in the [[United States Department of Justice]], where he worked off and on for almost 40 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/libref/directors/finch.htm|title=Stanley W. Finch, July 26, 1908 - April 30, 1912}}</ref> Finch rose from the position of clerk to that of chief examiner between 1893 and 1908. While working in the Justice Department, Finch earned his [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B]] degree (1908), followed by an [[Master of Laws|LL.M]] degree (1909) from what is now [[The George Washington University Law School]]. He was admitted to the [[Washington, DC]] bar in 1911.

[[File:531 T Street. N.W..jpg|thumb|left|Former [[Washington, D.C.]] residence ''(left)'' of Stanley Finch]]
Previously, when the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] needed to investigate a crime, it would borrow [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] personnel from the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]]. As chief examiner, Finch advocated setting up a squad of detectives within the Justice Department.

[[Charles Joseph Bonaparte|Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte]] created a Special Agent force and gave oversight of the force, later named the [[Bureau of Investigation]] (BOI), to Finch. Thus, he created what would become the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]].

From 1913 to the 1930s, Finch alternated between private employment—primarily in the novelty manufacturing business—and positions in the [[Justice Department]]. He finally retired from the Justice Department in 1940.

== References ==
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{{s-ttl|order=1st|title=[[Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation|Chief of the Bureau of Investigation]]|years=1908–1912}}
{{s-aft|after=[[A. Bruce Bielaski]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Stanley}}
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation]]
[[Category:George Washington University Law School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Monticello, New York]]