Background

Clarence M. Kelley was born on October 24, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He was a son of Clarence Bond Kelley, an electrical worker, and Minnie Kelley (maiden name Brown).

Education

Clarence M. Kelley spent his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri. He was raised in the best American tradition and developed a sense of honesty and love to hard work.

Kelley obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 1936. Four years later, he earned a Bachelor of Laws (currently Juris Doctor degree) from the University of Kansas City School of Law.

For the participation in the John Findley Green Lecture Series at Westminister College in Fulton, Missouri in May, 1976, Kelley was given an honorary Doctor of Political Science Degree. He also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas and, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri.

Career

Clarence M. Kelley was admitted to the State Bar of Missouri in 1940 and on October, 7, he joined the staff the FBI. He served there as a special agent for four years. Then, he completed a two-year military service in the United States Naval Reserve on active duty. After, he came back to his work at FBI where he served again as a special agent till 1957 in Washington, D.C., Houston, Seattle, and San Francisco offices.

Then, Kelley was assigned a Special Agent in Charge and sent to the Birmingham bureau, Alabama. Three years after, he relocated to the Memphis office where he served till his retirement from the FBI on October 24, 1961. The same year, he was appointed a chief of police in Kansas City, Missouri.

Clarence M. Kelley resumed work with the bureau in 1973 as its second national director, a position he had held for five years. Nominated for the post by President Richard M. Nixon on June 7, he was sworn in on July 9 succeeding director J. Edgar Hoover and managed the FBI through its post-Watergate days. Kelley stepped down from office on February 15, 1978. A year earlier when he announced his intention to retire, he was admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court.

Clarence M. Kelley rounded out his career in a private investigation agency Clarence M. Kelley and Associates, Inc. (CMKA) which he founded in 1982. He had served as its vice president for one year, and chaired its board from 1983 to 1990.

In collaboration with James Kirkpatrick Davis, Kelley authored a book of memoirs titled ‘Kelley: The Story of an FBI Director’. It saw the print in 1987. He also wrote a foreword to ‘Handbook of Forensic Science’ by an academic Robin Williams.

Achievements

• Clarence M. Kelley is respected as the innovator of law enforcement.
  
  During his work as the Chief of Police in Kansas City, Missouri, he initiated the creation of the first helicopter division and brought the first computer systems to the local Police Department.
  
  The first director of the FBI assigned through the nomination and confirmation process, Kelley improved the public image of the FBI. He brought more women and minorities into law enforcement and helped change the focus of the bureau from Communist hunters to organized and white collar crimes. He also removed the embezzlement practices which had been widespread in the administrative division under his predecessor, J. Edgar Hoover. Due to Kelley, the relations between the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were restored.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Kelley: The Story of an FBI Director

    (The book by Clarence M. Kelley and Clarence M. Kelley inc...)

    1987
  • Handbook of Forensic Science

    (Clarence M. Kelley wrote a foreword to the book by an aca...)

    1975

Religion

An active Christian, Clarence M. Kelley found time to collaborate with the Disciples of Christ and took part in charity work. He served on the board of directors of the Salvation Army, and on May 4, 1975, he was named a Life Elder of the Country Club Christian Church, Kansas City.

Membership

Clarence M. Kelley joined the Presidential Advisory Committee in 1971, and served on the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals and on the FBI National Academy Review Committee from 1972 to 1973.

In April 1976, he was assigned to a five-year term as Advisory Trustee of the University of Missouri.

He was also a member of the National Advisory Council, International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Missouri Peace Officers Association, Metropolitan Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, the Menorah Medical Center Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri, Missouri State Racing Commission, and the Rotary Club of Kansas City.

• Presidential Advisory Committee , United States

  1971

• FBI National Academy Review Committee , United States

  1972 - 1973

• National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals , United States

  1972 - 1973

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "Clarence Kelley was the right person for the F.B.I. at that time. I think Clarence Kelley was directly responsible for getting us back on our feet." Terry Knowles, former FBI agent

Connections

Clarence M. Kelley was married twice.

His first wife became Ruby Pickett in 1940. They had one daughter and a son named Mary Dobbins and Kent Kelley. Ruby died in 1975.

A year later, Kelley formed a family with Shirley Ann Dyckes.

Father:

Clarence Bond Kelley

Mother:

Minnie Kelley

Spouse:

Shirley Ann Dyckes

Daughter:

Mary Dobbins

Son:

Kent Kelley

late spouse:

Ruby Pickett

colleague:

Robin Williams