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Reviews tagging 'Murder'
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage
2 reviews
oliviaja's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Violence
samferree's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Like most leftists, I have a deep-seated suspicion and hatred of J. Edgar Hoover, chief architect of contemporary American policing and domestic surveillance, white supremacist stalwart, and self-declared enemy of progressivism in general. I learned about this book in an interview with Beverly Gage on the Know Your Enemy podcast and was intrigued by her point that to understand changes in American politics from the 1910s to the 1970s and up until this very day, you have to know a little about Hoover's tenure as director of the FBI. At least one uncomfortable fact of history is that the FBI was empowered and championed by both Democratic and Republican administrations, but particularly by FDR and LBJ. Hoover also, as a deliberate policy, helped create the popular image of the federal bureaucrat as a non-partisan expert, disinterested in politics and only there to do the government's business. Hoover also embodied the dark side of that ideal, genuinely believing that he knew better what was good for the country than Civil Rights leaders, other political appointees, elected officials, and even presidents. He was an unapologetic white supremacist whose institution was and still is a primary enforcement tool of racial and economic hierarchies, but it's still one of the most effective antagonists to right wing American domestic terrorist groups like the Klan, the Proud Boys, 3%ers, Sovereign Citizens, and others which is why conservatives have become so hostile to the FBI recently. Hoover's legacy is complicated. Even now, more than 50 years after his death, we are still trying to grapple with it, and probably will for decades to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Classism, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Stalking, Torture, Colonisation, Outing, Drug use, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Police brutality
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