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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
Weird to come out of a 800 page bio saying ‘longer!’, but, longer!
Felt like the biographical equivalent to a thick high quality pop-history ‘History of America’ book where it plays all the hits in a way that works for a super obvious and basically uninteresting thesis, but you’re just begging for it to slow down and give us a sense of what these things mean for Hoover and America.
Increasingly realising I don’t like 20th century American history so much as I like Robert Caro books. Oh well!
Felt like the biographical equivalent to a thick high quality pop-history ‘History of America’ book where it plays all the hits in a way that works for a super obvious and basically uninteresting thesis, but you’re just begging for it to slow down and give us a sense of what these things mean for Hoover and America.
Increasingly realising I don’t like 20th century American history so much as I like Robert Caro books. Oh well!
Very well written biography, except for the side quests (mini biographies of individuals who didn’t matter to the larger points). In the end, I learned a lot and that was my goal.
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
I truthfully didn’t know much about Hoover before picking up this book but Gage does an incredible job covering his life and weaving in all of the major and minor historical moments he intersected with or influenced. Definitely enjoyed this one.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
**So pleased to see this win the 2023 Pulitzer for Biography!**
The damage one man can do is astounding. It comes as no surprise to me that J. Edgar Hoover was a terrible man. I am fully aware that he was given unchecked power for half a century by presidents Republican and Democrat, and that he used that power to orchestrate the ruin and murder of people who were unacceptable to him, mostly Black and Jewish Americans. I am reasonably well schooled in 20th-century US history, and no one, no one, is more central to 20th century US history than Hoover. But there were many things about Hoover I did not know, things that surprised me (and not in a good way) and that filled in the gaps in my knowledge. Gage writes like a prosecutor, a really good one, laying out her case and in the end it turns out most everything that is wrong with America today is connected to the beliefs and actions of J. Edgar Hoover. I don't mean to be hyperbolic, Hoover is by no means solely responsible for the devaluation of the lives of Black people, for the hubris of January 6th and Charlottesville idiots, for the back door dealing, for the villainization of anyone who seeks to be an honest broker, for wage compression, for absurd Congressional hearings about trumped up scare scenarios (HUAC, violent lyrics in rap/imagery in video games, the dangers of social media and tech in general) that absolutely do not matter but keep lazy people distracted while bad people fiddle about. But all these things and more have some connecting thread to Hoover. He nearly single handedly devised and maintained the Cold War. He literally ordered agents to not intervene to stop lynchings, and refused to participate meaningfully in investigating murders by judges and sheriffs and other powerful men, allowing them to police themselves to avoid federal overreach(this is still the way many in Congress and on talk radio think things should be.) If fact, he chose to not tell the Dallas police about credible assassination threats made against John Kennedy because he did not want to "interfere" is local law enforcement. He created the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare (this very very Gay man routed out and destroyed the careers and lives many many civil servants because they were Gay - unless they were his friends, in which case he covered for them), dividing people and creating identity politics. There is so much more. He was depraved.
It is easy to fall back on the excuse that as a Gay man the pressure to live a lie twisted him, but that is too simple. For one, he did not really live a lie. For 44 years he openly lived with his partner Clyde Tolson. They were invited everywhere as a couple including to the White House wedding of one of LBJ's daughters. There are letters between him and presidents (Johnson and Nixon) that speak of them as a couple. When Hoover died, the soldiers folded the flag placed over his coffin and handed it to Tolson. I mean I assume they did not hold hands or anything, but they were not in the shadows either. Under his rule he was in fact the only Gay man (well, also a few friends) who got to live comfortably with his partner. The truth is that he was a martinet and a despot. He was a man whose belief in White supremacy was the most foundational most central belief he possessed. Hoover belonged to a fraternity that had a pledge of a belief in White supremacy in its charter, required frat houses to hang a Confederate battle flag over their doors and held annual blackface parties. It is from this fraternity that Hoover hired for the FBI almost exclusively, and the fraternity was a primary source for his social and business relationships all through his life. Hoover was a bad man. Yes, I imagine he had some feelings of self-loathing stemming from his homosexuality and the social condemnation of LTBTQ+ people in the time he lived, but that does not erase the fact that he was a dimensional bad man, that there were a lot of reasons for his villainy, and yet none of them justify a bit of it.
There is more, to learn, and you should. One of the most illuminating bios I have ever read.
The damage one man can do is astounding. It comes as no surprise to me that J. Edgar Hoover was a terrible man. I am fully aware that he was given unchecked power for half a century by presidents Republican and Democrat, and that he used that power to orchestrate the ruin and murder of people who were unacceptable to him, mostly Black and Jewish Americans. I am reasonably well schooled in 20th-century US history, and no one, no one, is more central to 20th century US history than Hoover. But there were many things about Hoover I did not know, things that surprised me (and not in a good way) and that filled in the gaps in my knowledge. Gage writes like a prosecutor, a really good one, laying out her case and in the end it turns out most everything that is wrong with America today is connected to the beliefs and actions of J. Edgar Hoover. I don't mean to be hyperbolic, Hoover is by no means solely responsible for the devaluation of the lives of Black people, for the hubris of January 6th and Charlottesville idiots, for the back door dealing, for the villainization of anyone who seeks to be an honest broker, for wage compression, for absurd Congressional hearings about trumped up scare scenarios (HUAC, violent lyrics in rap/imagery in video games, the dangers of social media and tech in general) that absolutely do not matter but keep lazy people distracted while bad people fiddle about. But all these things and more have some connecting thread to Hoover. He nearly single handedly devised and maintained the Cold War. He literally ordered agents to not intervene to stop lynchings, and refused to participate meaningfully in investigating murders by judges and sheriffs and other powerful men, allowing them to police themselves to avoid federal overreach(this is still the way many in Congress and on talk radio think things should be.) If fact, he chose to not tell the Dallas police about credible assassination threats made against John Kennedy because he did not want to "interfere" is local law enforcement. He created the Red Scare and the Lavender Scare (this very very Gay man routed out and destroyed the careers and lives many many civil servants because they were Gay - unless they were his friends, in which case he covered for them), dividing people and creating identity politics. There is so much more. He was depraved.
It is easy to fall back on the excuse that as a Gay man the pressure to live a lie twisted him, but that is too simple. For one, he did not really live a lie. For 44 years he openly lived with his partner Clyde Tolson. They were invited everywhere as a couple including to the White House wedding of one of LBJ's daughters. There are letters between him and presidents (Johnson and Nixon) that speak of them as a couple. When Hoover died, the soldiers folded the flag placed over his coffin and handed it to Tolson. I mean I assume they did not hold hands or anything, but they were not in the shadows either. Under his rule he was in fact the only Gay man (well, also a few friends) who got to live comfortably with his partner. The truth is that he was a martinet and a despot. He was a man whose belief in White supremacy was the most foundational most central belief he possessed. Hoover belonged to a fraternity that had a pledge of a belief in White supremacy in its charter, required frat houses to hang a Confederate battle flag over their doors and held annual blackface parties. It is from this fraternity that Hoover hired for the FBI almost exclusively, and the fraternity was a primary source for his social and business relationships all through his life. Hoover was a bad man. Yes, I imagine he had some feelings of self-loathing stemming from his homosexuality and the social condemnation of LTBTQ+ people in the time he lived, but that does not erase the fact that he was a dimensional bad man, that there were a lot of reasons for his villainy, and yet none of them justify a bit of it.
There is more, to learn, and you should. One of the most illuminating bios I have ever read.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
In that sense, Tolson and Hoover already had the affectionate, supportive marriage they were supposed to want.
I really thought this book was gonna kill me there for a minute but, just as Hoover facing a transition of power, I lived. I was interested in reading more about Hoover after engulfing [b:Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington|56347310|Secret City The Hidden History of Gay Washington|James Kirchick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1635843911l/56347310._SY75_.jpg|87795667] last summer. Seven months later, I finally finished this meticulously researched, deeply nuanced portrait of one of the most influential civil servants in American history. Gage's portrait strikes a balance between authenticity and reflection. She doesn't let him get away with too much, but she keeps us honest too. In addition to being a well-researched portrait of the long-standing FBI director, this is a wealth of resource for anyone interested in 20th century America. The tea alone is worth it. This little gay boy was MESSSSSSSSSSSY. And you know what, so was everyone else.
Gage gives plenty of context (at times, a bit too much) to the historical events unfolding around and as a result of Hoover's FBI. Somehow though, there were still a few moments I wish she would've expanded more. At the end of this immense and intense study of Hoover, I'm not sure preciously how to feel about him, probably because he was a man of so many contradictions. He was a gay man campaigning for traditional values, a racist extolling justice, and a government servant set apart from partisanship but deeply embroiled in personal and professional politics. He simultaneously loved and abhorred power, worshiped and disdained the weight of government itself. Despite all the contradictions, and his mostly abhorrent legacy, it's hard to not feel some level of appreciation for what he went through, the kind of life he must have lived. I won't miss this book, though. I really did think I was going to die while reading it, even though I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it.
I really thought this book was gonna kill me there for a minute but, just as Hoover facing a transition of power, I lived. I was interested in reading more about Hoover after engulfing [b:Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington|56347310|Secret City The Hidden History of Gay Washington|James Kirchick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1635843911l/56347310._SY75_.jpg|87795667] last summer. Seven months later, I finally finished this meticulously researched, deeply nuanced portrait of one of the most influential civil servants in American history. Gage's portrait strikes a balance between authenticity and reflection. She doesn't let him get away with too much, but she keeps us honest too. In addition to being a well-researched portrait of the long-standing FBI director, this is a wealth of resource for anyone interested in 20th century America. The tea alone is worth it. This little gay boy was MESSSSSSSSSSSY. And you know what, so was everyone else.
Gage gives plenty of context (at times, a bit too much) to the historical events unfolding around and as a result of Hoover's FBI. Somehow though, there were still a few moments I wish she would've expanded more. At the end of this immense and intense study of Hoover, I'm not sure preciously how to feel about him, probably because he was a man of so many contradictions. He was a gay man campaigning for traditional values, a racist extolling justice, and a government servant set apart from partisanship but deeply embroiled in personal and professional politics. He simultaneously loved and abhorred power, worshiped and disdained the weight of government itself. Despite all the contradictions, and his mostly abhorrent legacy, it's hard to not feel some level of appreciation for what he went through, the kind of life he must have lived. I won't miss this book, though. I really did think I was going to die while reading it, even though I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it.