Clarence M. Kelley

Clarence M. Kelley
2ndDirector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
In office July 9, 1973 – February 15, 1978
President	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Deputy	James B. Adams
Preceded by	J. Edgar Hoover
Succeeded by	William H. Webster
Personal details
Born	Clarence Marion Kelley (1911-10-24)October 24, 1911 Kansas City,Missouri,U.S.
Died	August 5, 1997(1997-08-05)(aged 85) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Ruby Pickett ​ ​ (m.1937; died 1975)​ Shirley Dyckes ​ (m.1976⁠–⁠1997)​
Children	2
Education	University of Kansas(BA) University of Missouri–Kansas City(LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1944–1946

Clarence Marion Kelley(October 24, 1911 – August 5, 1997) was an American law enforcement officer. He served as the Chief of theKansas City Police DepartmentinKansas City, Missouri,from 1961 to 1973, and as the second director of theFederal Bureau of Investigationfrom 1973 to 1978.

Early life and education

Clarence Kelley was born inKansas City, Missouri,on October 24, 1911.He attendedNortheast High School,where he was nicknamed "Chief" and held a 0.300 baseball batting average.He received hisBachelor of Artsdegree from theUniversity of Kansasin 1936,where he was a member ofSigma Nufraternity. He continued his education to earn anLL.B.from theUniversity of Kansas City,Missouri, in 1940.He was admitted to the MissouriBarthe same year.The Kansas City Police department would eulogize him as having been "destined to enter law enforcement".

Early FBI career

Kelley joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as aSpecial Agenton October 7, 1940. He served in field offices inHuntington, West Virginia;Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;Des Moines, Iowa;and the FBI Training Center inQuantico, Virginia.He served in theUnited States Navyfrom July 22, 1944, to April 9, 1946, having been granted military leave from the FBI.

Returning from military service, Kelley was assigned to the Kansas City office, where his performance earned him a promotion to field supervisor. He also served at FBI Headquarters inWashington, D.C.,in 1951. From July 1953 to July 1957, he served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Houston, Seattle, and San Francisco offices. He was then transferred to the Training and Inspection Division at FBI Headquarters, becoming an Inspector. In December 1957, he was promoted to Special Agent in Charge of the Birmingham office and was reassigned to the Memphis office in November 1960, where he served as Special Agent in Charge until his retirement from the FBI on October 24, 1961.

Kansas City police

At the recommendation of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy,Kelley became the Chief of theKansas City Police DepartmentinKansas City, Missouri,serving from 1961 to 1973.He installed a computer system to check driver's license plates.

In 1970 Kelley received theJ. Edgar HooverGold Medal presented by theVeterans of Foreign Wars.The following year he was named to the Presidential Advisory Committee, and served on both the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals and on the FBI National Academy Review Committee from 1972 to 1973.

Director of the FBI (1973–1978)

On June 7, 1973, PresidentRichard Nixonnominated Kelley to be Director of the FBI.TheUnited States Senateconfirmed the nomination June 27 and he was sworn in on July 9. Kelley was the first Director of the FBI to be appointed through the nomination and confirmation process. During his time as Director, Kelley eliminated the embezzlement practices that had been prevalent in the administrative division under J. Edgar Hoover's directorship through his cooperation with a Justice Department investigation.Kelley also reopened relations with other intelligence agencies, such as theCentral Intelligence Agencywhich had nearly been shut down by Hoover in his last years as director.

Kelley helped the FBI transition from its 40 plus years of being dominated by a single director, J. Edgar Hoover, by attempting to improve its public image.At the same time, he tried not to antagonize FBI agents who had been loyal to Hoover.

Kelley's intention to retire, revealed in 1977, prompted an exhaustive year-long search for a successor. PresidentJimmy Carterfinally decided onWilliam H. Webster,who was nominated in January 1978. Kelley retired from the FBI February 15, 1978,and was temporarily succeeded byJames B. Adams,who served as Acting Director until Webster's confirmation 8 days later.

Clarence M. Kelley and Associates

Kelley founded Clarence M. Kelley and Associates, Inc. (CMKA), a security and investigation firm, in 1982. CMKA is now one of the nation's leading Professional Investigative and Security Consulting Firms. CMKA provides a broad spectrum of investigative and security related services nationally and abroad.

Personal life and death

Kelley was an elder of theDisciples of Christ.He was married twice. With his first wife Ruby Pickett, he had a son and a daughter.A year after she died in 1975, he married a former Catholic nun previously known as Sister Bernadine,née Shirley Dyckes.She published her memoir,Love Is Not for Cowards,in 1978.Kelley published his own memoir,Kelley: The Story of an FBI Director,in 1987.

Kelley died on August 5, 1997, in his sleep from natural causes in his Kansas City home, at age 85.His remains were later buried at Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri.

Further reading

• Kelley, Shirley Dyckes; Gullander, Elizabeth (1978).Love Is Not for Cowards: The Autobiography of Shirley Dyckes Kelley.Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.ISBN9780135410295.OCLC3631031.
• Kelley, Clarence M.; James Kirkpatrick Davis (1987).Kelley: The Story of an FBI Director.Kansas City: Andrews, McMeel & Parker.ISBN0-8362-7935-2.
• Gentry, Curt (1992).J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets.New York: W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-0-393-32128-9.

External links

• CMKA Homepage