There is no doubt about it; the Director ruled the FBI Nationwide with a firm hand. He didn't like "yes men" and when he gave an order, he expected it to be carried out. But the Director had a very human side to him that many times we don't hear about. Compassionate, understanding and comical, according to Hoover's number three man, Cartha "Deke" DeLoach,The Director's No. 3 Man in the Bureau. Hoover had a penchant for practical jokes and some "fun" which is well known within inner circles and is described in at least two books about the Director.
For the public in general, however, very few are aware of any of the above and if you check, you'll find not many in the media were interested either.
For the many who were disciplined, sometimes severely, under today's standards many would consider some of those discipline measures extraordinary and bordering on the rediculous. I and many other of my own colleagues can attest to one thing for certain. You were held "accountable" for your actions or even in-actions. In today's world, the "accountability" we were subject to has changed quite drastically.
Just one of the numerous disciplinary handouts from the Director is revealed in a 1934 memorandum regarding one of the Agents of the day discussing matters "outside the FBI." This was, and always continued to be, an absolute violation of FBI regulations, and many times rightfully so.
You can see this memo and the notation of the Director at the bottom by clicking here. There's no doubt this Agent "got the message."
By the time he died in 1972, Director Hoover was still passing down disciplinary messages exactly the way he had done it on memos, etc. forty plus years earlier.