J. Edgar Hoover

The Red Scare of 1919-20 shared a crucial element with the Cold War red scare: the major source of information and misinformation to government officials and to the American people about domestic and foreign threats to national security: J. Edgar Hoover. The seven books reviewed below reveal Hoover as a bureaucrat adept at manipulating Presidents, Congressmen, the press and American public opinion. He served in this capacity for over fifty years (1919-1972). Hundreds or perhaps thousands of FBI agents eagerly carried out orders approved by Hoover, but often conceived by others such as William Sullivan, whose book is reviewed in this essay. Many of these orders were for illegal burglaries and wiretaps. Hoover survived for so long through fierce determination, self confidence, close attention to details, a gift for public relations and repeated pronouncements about patriotism and the importance of home, school, church and traditional moral values. He became a revered national hero, respected and often feared even by Presidents who disliked him. Hoover's many abuses of his power made him a national liability as well as a national asset. Born January 1, 1895 in a Washington, D.C. house several blocks from the Capitol, Hoover lived in that home for forty-three years. He left only after