Hoover was supposedly born in 1895, but his birth certificate was not filed until 1938. The beginning of his life is suspicious! He was in the choir, the debate team, and the ROTC. He was firmly against women getting the right to vote. He had a stutter, and he taught himself to control it for debates by speaking exceptionally fast. He wound up getting a law degree, and was hired by the Justice Department. He was a staunch supporter of the death penalty. He was authorized by President Woodrow Wilson to arrest disloyal foreigners and incarcerate them with no trial. He carried out the Palmer Raids. He read people's mail and participated in illegal wiretapping. He kept secret files on thousands of Americans. It was reported that he had ties to the mob, but in all likelihood, he was probably blackmailed into being lax and denying that there was an organized crime problem. Though, he did create a branch that tracked down the famous gangsters John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, and Al Capone. Apparently, gangsters were gangsters and there was no such thing as the Mafia. He also gambled a lot of money at the horse tracks.

When he took control of the Bureau, he fired all female employees and banned the hiring of females in the future. The only way women could be hired was as a secretary, and they were only allowed to wear skirts or dresses. Women were not allowed to smoke at their desks, but men were allowed to do so. He reassigned agents who displeased him in any way. He fired agents based on how they looked or if they had displeased him in the slightest way. He got rid of people who he was jealous of, especially if they got more press than he did. He planted false evidence to get whatever outcome he wanted if he was against a person or entity of any kind.

J. Edgar Hoover is one of the SHADIEST people I have read about in the government, and that is saying a lot. I picked up this book because I was hoping to learn more about what this creep was up to, and it certainly did not disappoint. I had read in other places that it was suspected that he was gay, because he never married. There were rumors that he liked to cross dress as well. If those were true, that was his business, but it is especially sorry to be in the business of ruining people's lives for that very thing if you are also gay. His coworker that he traveled everywhere with and wore matching suits with inherited Hoover's things when he died, so I don't think it was a stretch. He abused his power, absolutely. I can understand why term limits were implemented after his long tenure and multitude of shenanagins. This was a really, really interesting book. It really helped to solidify my low opinion of Hoover .