Palmer became Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 . In the aftermath of World War I , the nation experienced a strong reaction against Communists and anarchists known as the First Red Scare . An anarchist named Luigi Galleani conducted a series of bombings and attempted to assassinate Palmer and other prominent individuals . During the Red Summer of 1919 , the United States also experienced numerous race riots and labor tensions . In reaction to this domestic unrest , Palmer created the General Intelligence Unit and recruited J. Edgar Hoover to head the new organization . Beginning in November 1919 , Palmer launched a series of raids that rounded up and deported numerous suspected radicals . Though the American public initially supported the raids , Palmer 's raids earned backlash from civil rights activists and legal scholars . He received further backlash when a series of attacks on May Day 1920 that he had raised grave concerns about did not materialize
series of bombings
1919 United States anarchist bombings
A. Mitchell Palmer