In 1968, Public Law 90351 provided that, at the conclusion of the service of longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, the director would be nominated by the president for a 10-year term subject to confirmation by the Senate. The purpose of the law was to affirm the independence of the chief national law enforcement agency. The attorney general serves at the pleasure of the president. But the FBI director is outside the ordinary chain of command.

One result of that reform has been that directors have generally been reliably independent of the sitting president, whose terms of office the director is sure to exceed even if the new director is appointed at the beginning of a presidential term.