G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner): J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
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Last update: 06-09-2024
About this item
Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Biography
Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography, the 2023 Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy, and the 43rd LA Times Book Prize in Biography | Finalist for the 2023 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Named a Best Book of 2022 by The Atlantic, The Washington Post and Smithsonian Magazine and a New York Times Top 100 Notable Books of 2022
“Masterful…This book is an enduring, formidable accomplishment, a monument to the power of biography [that] now becomes the definitive work”—The Washington Post
“A nuanced portrait in a league with the best of Ron Chernow and David McCullough.”—The Wall Street Journal
A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.
We remember him as a bulldog--squat frame, bulging wide-set eyes, fearsome jowls--but in 1924, when he became director of the FBI, he had been the trim, dazzling wunderkind of the administrative state, buzzing with energy and big ideas for reform. He transformed a failing law-enforcement backwater, riddled with scandal, into a modern machine. He believed in the power of the federal government to do great things for the nation and its citizens. He also believed that certain people--many of them communists or racial minorities or both-- did not deserve to be included in that American project. Hoover rose to power and then stayed there, decade after decade, using the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivaled in U.S. history.
Beverly Gage’s monumental work explores the full sweep of Hoover’s life and career, from his birth in 1895 to a modest Washington civil-service family through his death in 1972. In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Gage shows how Hoover was more than a one-dimensional tyrant and schemer who strong-armed the rest of the country into submission. As FBI director from 1924 through his death in 1972, he was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans and four Democrats. Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson did the most to empower him, yet his closest friend among the eight was fellow anticommunist warrior Richard Nixon. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, but he also embodied conservative values ranging from anticommunism to white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. This garnered him the admiration of millions of Americans. He stayed in office for so long because many people, from the highest reaches of government down to the grassroots, wanted him there and supported what he was doing, thus creating the template that the political right has followed to transform its party.
G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood in American political history--not at the fringes, but at the center--and uses his story to explain the trajectories of governance, policing, race, ideology, political culture, and federal power as they evolved over the course of the 20th century.
Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography, the 2023 Bancroft Prize in American History and Diplomacy, and the 43rd LA Times Book Prize in Biography | Finalist for the 2023 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
Named a Best Book of 2022 by The Atlantic, The Washington Post and Smithsonian Magazine and a New York Times Top 100 Notable Books of 2022
“Masterful…This book is an enduring, formidable accomplishment, a monument to the power of biography [that] now becomes the definitive work”—The Washington Post
“A nuanced portrait in a league with the best of Ron Chernow and David McCullough.”—The Wall Street Journal
A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today's conservative political landscape.
We remember him as a bulldog--squat frame, bulging wide-set eyes, fearsome jowls--but in 1924, when he became director of the FBI, he had been the trim, dazzling wunderkind of the administrative state, buzzing with energy and big ideas for reform. He transformed a failing law-enforcement backwater, riddled with scandal, into a modern machine. He believed in the power of the federal government to do great things for the nation and its citizens. He also believed that certain people--many of them communists or racial minorities or both-- did not deserve to be included in that American project. Hoover rose to power and then stayed there, decade after decade, using the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivaled in U.S. history.
Beverly Gage’s monumental work explores the full sweep of Hoover’s life and career, from his birth in 1895 to a modest Washington civil-service family through his death in 1972. In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Gage shows how Hoover was more than a one-dimensional tyrant and schemer who strong-armed the rest of the country into submission. As FBI director from 1924 through his death in 1972, he was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans and four Democrats. Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson did the most to empower him, yet his closest friend among the eight was fellow anticommunist warrior Richard Nixon. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, but he also embodied conservative values ranging from anticommunism to white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. This garnered him the admiration of millions of Americans. He stayed in office for so long because many people, from the highest reaches of government down to the grassroots, wanted him there and supported what he was doing, thus creating the template that the political right has followed to transform its party.
G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood in American political history--not at the fringes, but at the center--and uses his story to explain the trajectories of governance, policing, race, ideology, political culture, and federal power as they evolved over the course of the 20th century.
Top reviews from the United States
Michael M. Kazanjian5.0 out of 5 stars
Gage, Hoover, and Philosophy
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2024
Gage is, and Hoover was, very familiar with the philosophical view of phenomenology and embodiment. Reality is embodied in the real world. As Gage says, intimidation and blackmail go only so far. Hoover knew to get support from those in power, and the grassroots. This book is must read for all in philosophy as well as biography. Michael M. Kazanjian Author: Unified Philosophy, 3rd edition.
Jason Adams4.0 out of 5 stars
Thorough analysis of a troubling man
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2024
Gage has created a landmark work despite having no real affection for her subject. There is some sympathy here for the conflicted man who struggled with his own desires and lived a shadow life away from prying eyes. In the author’s judgment that personal struggle does not make up for the pain inflicted on thousands of others in the name of efficiency and kingmaking. Hoover stole from others the grace he afforded himself while building a culture of arbitrary fear and social repression. Occasionally repetitive, this book does a masterful job of laying out the troubling life of a deeply flawed man and the impact on our polity.
Daniel M. Mitchell5.0 out of 5 stars
An Important Update to American History
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024
Having been born in 1938, I have lived through much of the Hoover history. While I was aware of many of the events chronicled in the book, my thoughts at the time were more with work and family. It was interesting and informative to be able to fill in some gaps and see behind the curtain, as well as the underbelly, of things that I had paid only passing attention to in real time. The author’s strategy of using multiple short chapters, although unusual for long biographies, was very effective.
Kindle Customer5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
This is the most thorough biography of Hoover I have ever read! Yet it was never dry and the information was balanced.
Coffee Lover5.0 out of 5 stars
an author active biography which is also a history of the 1st 75 years of the 20th century
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2023
This exhaustive and incredibly illuminating biography transcends popular history and documents the good, bad, and ugly of one of the 20th Century’s most controversial and dominating persons. As term limits gain such publicity today, this book should be a must read for anyone involved in the debate. As a debate coach myself, I was fascinated at the remarkable influence debate had on Hoover’s life & work. His exhaustive files reminded me of my evidence “cache” as a debater. This book brought me sadness, fear, and even hope when thinking of the divisiveness of today’s society & then being reminded it that such has happened before. I applaud Beverly Gage for her diligence in providing us with authentic, well-researched history.
Pseudo D4.0 out of 5 stars
contains multitudes
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2022
The Yale history prof Beverly Gage has written a new biography of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. It is
her first biography, according to the review by Kai Bird, and took thirteen years to write. This is a massive
work of almost 750 pages, plus notes. It reminded me of the feeling of achievement after completing
the Brothers Karamazov, where I felt like I could take a break for a while. The length of the book is
absolutely necessary because of the duration of Hoover's career. As the title indicates, he was intricately
connected to all the major figures in American government from the 1920s to the early 1970s,
including eight presidents, evenly divided by party.
Gage goes right to the beginning with his youth in Washington, D.C., which he never left except
for college in the South. She puts a lot of emphasis on his Southern fraternity. The post-WWI era
was marked by the rise of communism and anarchists such as Emma Goldman. While the narrative
is thorough, Gage ironically has little on Herbert Hoover, the President who shared JEH's name.
It then goes into FDR and the New Deal. This is important for a number of reasons. Hoover was
the embodiment of what we might call big government, what Jim Burnham called the managerial
state. While certainly conservative, he thrived with administrations of both parties and even
major differences in political philosophy. He was far more skilled than people think, not just by
sly tactics but the ordinary means of persuasion and communication.
Despite this, JEH is viewed today as a partisan figure. Before we get to that, there is also a lot of
psychoanalyzing of his sexuality. Gage goes with the contemporary interpretation of his relationships,
but in a more nuanced, less labeling fashion. I see no reason to question Hoover's commitment to
the values of western civilization, of which he viewed himself as a grateful participant. This would
include a communitarian view of American society. Both freedom and order are necessary, but
order and stability is part of that. So while Hoover was part of big government or the administrative
state, he was old enough that he was able to apply traditional values to it. This is very different
from the temptation of today's deep state to be anti-Trump.
Today he is viewed as a partisan figure and specifically as a villain to the left, something of a Joe
McCarthy. This is absurd, because while McCarthy burned out in a few years, Hoover thrived politically
and in terms of public relations with high approval ratings. He had differences with the Kennedys,
but still worked with them and then thrived under LBJ and Nixon.
With regard to anticommunism, I can see his influence on Bishop Fulton Sheen, as well as on the
issue of crime. Sheen was a philosopher and saw more complexity, but the rhetoric does reflect
that interaction. Gage doesn't really seem to understand the extent of communist infiltration.
Even when trying to be neutral about Hiss and Chambers, she seems skeptical even with the
evidence that Chambers provided. She relies more on Sam Tanenhaus to interpret Chambers.
The most controversial thing about Hoover is probably his dealings with Martin Luther King. This
was referenced as recently as in Dave Chappelle's SNL monologue after the midterm elections.
Here I thought Gage was quite fair. MLK did great things, and also had some serious errors of
judgment regarding the communist associates.
By the early 70s, with the new issues such as the counterculture, Hoover was viewed in the partisan
way that he is today by the left, with Senators Ted Kennedy, McGovern, Muskie and Church. On the
other side, Gage points out Reagan, WFB, Goldwater, Thurmond, Kilpatrick and Schlafly. Pat Buchanan,
for his part, was typically astute and recommended that Nixon make him retire before the left got
him, but it wasn't possible. After his death, there was more typical bipartisanship in remembering
Hoover's legacy, but then it deteriorated. Besides the social unrest of the late 60s and early 70s,
as Ross Douthat has shown, something happened to America and the left around 2014, so the
villain view prevails. While the author shares much of it, hopefully this work will help some people
to see other sides of the stories.
her first biography, according to the review by Kai Bird, and took thirteen years to write. This is a massive
work of almost 750 pages, plus notes. It reminded me of the feeling of achievement after completing
the Brothers Karamazov, where I felt like I could take a break for a while. The length of the book is
absolutely necessary because of the duration of Hoover's career. As the title indicates, he was intricately
connected to all the major figures in American government from the 1920s to the early 1970s,
including eight presidents, evenly divided by party.
Gage goes right to the beginning with his youth in Washington, D.C., which he never left except
for college in the South. She puts a lot of emphasis on his Southern fraternity. The post-WWI era
was marked by the rise of communism and anarchists such as Emma Goldman. While the narrative
is thorough, Gage ironically has little on Herbert Hoover, the President who shared JEH's name.
It then goes into FDR and the New Deal. This is important for a number of reasons. Hoover was
the embodiment of what we might call big government, what Jim Burnham called the managerial
state. While certainly conservative, he thrived with administrations of both parties and even
major differences in political philosophy. He was far more skilled than people think, not just by
sly tactics but the ordinary means of persuasion and communication.
Despite this, JEH is viewed today as a partisan figure. Before we get to that, there is also a lot of
psychoanalyzing of his sexuality. Gage goes with the contemporary interpretation of his relationships,
but in a more nuanced, less labeling fashion. I see no reason to question Hoover's commitment to
the values of western civilization, of which he viewed himself as a grateful participant. This would
include a communitarian view of American society. Both freedom and order are necessary, but
order and stability is part of that. So while Hoover was part of big government or the administrative
state, he was old enough that he was able to apply traditional values to it. This is very different
from the temptation of today's deep state to be anti-Trump.
Today he is viewed as a partisan figure and specifically as a villain to the left, something of a Joe
McCarthy. This is absurd, because while McCarthy burned out in a few years, Hoover thrived politically
and in terms of public relations with high approval ratings. He had differences with the Kennedys,
but still worked with them and then thrived under LBJ and Nixon.
With regard to anticommunism, I can see his influence on Bishop Fulton Sheen, as well as on the
issue of crime. Sheen was a philosopher and saw more complexity, but the rhetoric does reflect
that interaction. Gage doesn't really seem to understand the extent of communist infiltration.
Even when trying to be neutral about Hiss and Chambers, she seems skeptical even with the
evidence that Chambers provided. She relies more on Sam Tanenhaus to interpret Chambers.
The most controversial thing about Hoover is probably his dealings with Martin Luther King. This
was referenced as recently as in Dave Chappelle's SNL monologue after the midterm elections.
Here I thought Gage was quite fair. MLK did great things, and also had some serious errors of
judgment regarding the communist associates.
By the early 70s, with the new issues such as the counterculture, Hoover was viewed in the partisan
way that he is today by the left, with Senators Ted Kennedy, McGovern, Muskie and Church. On the
other side, Gage points out Reagan, WFB, Goldwater, Thurmond, Kilpatrick and Schlafly. Pat Buchanan,
for his part, was typically astute and recommended that Nixon make him retire before the left got
him, but it wasn't possible. After his death, there was more typical bipartisanship in remembering
Hoover's legacy, but then it deteriorated. Besides the social unrest of the late 60s and early 70s,
as Ross Douthat has shown, something happened to America and the left around 2014, so the
villain view prevails. While the author shares much of it, hopefully this work will help some people
to see other sides of the stories.
mj5.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly interesting biography of a surprisingly interesting man...
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2023
I've long enjoyed political and historical biographies, and this is one of the best I've ever read. In the title of this review I say "surprisingly interesting man" -- in a way that's an odd statement, because Hoover was a top national figure for decades during a tumultuous stretch of our history, so how could he *not* be interesting? But often the image of Hoover was one-dimensional: when I was in grade school in the 1950s he was What Every Young American Should Aspire to Be; by the time I was a college student in the late 1960s he was an evil hypocrite and cynic, full stop. Gage shows that there is much more to the story: for much of his career he was simultaneously a government modernizer and innovator, an unreconstructed bigot, and a conservative (later, right-wing) ideological warrior. Her research is meticulous and her analysis, rigorously fair-minded. In all it is a terrific accomplishment -- yes, it's a long, long book but there is an immense amount to say about a man who shaped, and was shaped by, the emergence of our modern systems of governance.
Brian Lewis5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive Biography
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2023
I avoided this book for some time, as J. Edgar Hoover seemed to me to be such an unsympathetic subject for such a long biography. I wondered how I could live with the guy through an 800 page plus book. But the book is so well done, thoroughly researched and dramatically written, that I found myself enjoying it a great deal.
Given the length and many controversies of Hoover's career, I suppose a short biography about him would not have been possible.
Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Hoover, the FBI or 20th century American history.
Given the length and many controversies of Hoover's career, I suppose a short biography about him would not have been possible.
Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Hoover, the FBI or 20th century American history.