John Edgar Hoover's Accomplishments

John “J.” Edgar Hoover lived in Washington all his life, and it seemed his destiny was to become the first leader of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hoover was born January 1st, 1895 to Dickerson Naylor Hoover Sr. and Annie Marie Scheitlin, He grew up almost strictly in Washington, becoming Valedictorian of his class at Central High School (Biography of John Edgar Hoover | The J. Edgar Hoover Foundation). After graduating from high school, Hoover started working at the Library of Congress to have a source of income, since he lacked the funds to accept a scholarship from the University of Virginia. While working at the Library, Hoover took night classes at George Washington University, where he gained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees

Stuart was once featured in a photograph of Hoover and Tolson on New Year’s Eve at a club. She describes this account of them after leaving the club, “I noticed they were holding hands all the way, just sitting there talking and holding hands with each other…” (The secret life of J. Edgar Hoover). Similarly, an account of Hoover and Tolson by Joseph Shimon, a former Washington police inspector, recalled a taxi driver who reported that Hoover and Tolson were “kissing and ass grabbing” during a ride (The secret life of J. Edgar Hoover). The most significant account of Hoover’s sexuality acquired by Summers is from Marshall de G Ruffin, a psychiatrist based in Washington. De Ruffin’s widow recalled her husband describing Hoover as “definitely troubled by homosexuality” and that “Hoover got very paranoid about anyone finding out he was a homosexual and got scared” (The secret life of J. Edgar

Edgar Hoover was a man of both mystery and American symbolism. Hoover did many things that helped in securing our nation’s safety, improving the catching of criminals, and in general the modernized evolution of our criminal justice system today. Both positive and negative were Hoovers’ impact. Hoover’s leadership skills and dedication to ‘following the Constitution’ make him an admirable person for anyone studying criminal justice. Hoover also was a dedicated man to his nation, no doubt about it. He did what he thought was best for the United States, even if he seemed like the ‘bad guy’ by making a choice. However, his potentially racist and homophobic beliefs make me realize that by him being the founding leader of the Bureau of Investigation, Hoover has most likely placed a stamp of his prejudice on the Bureau, too. I believe that by these views, Hoover helped set up many of the injustices we see in our criminal justice system today, by making it seem like it was okay to think that way, even if it was or is ‘the best choice at the