"Madamoiselle" Hoover: The Story Behind the Director of the FBI

Over the years, many important American figures have been considered controversial. Most of the presidents had their own personal scandals covered up, or made an attempt to do so. Kennedy, Nixon, Washington, even the most recent, Clinton and Bush have secrets that they feel need to be kept from the public. Some of these were brought into the public eye during their time as president, while others were not made public until long after their presidency. But it was not only the presidents that had their lives examined and their dirty secrets brought into the public eye. It seems that almost all the leaders of government organizations had some type of secret that they would want kept from society. Many of them were secrets that could seriously damage a reputation as well. Involvement with the mafia, homosexuality, drug use, alcoholism were all types of secrets that were kept from the public in order to save the reputation of a prominent individual.

English: Standing on Pennsylvania Avenue NW and lo...

English: J. Edgar Hoover

English: I took photo with Canon camera of FBI Bui...

However, this did not always stop the secrets from leaking out. Senators, congressmen, even the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had their lives dissected by reporters. Unless these individuals knew how to keep their private life truly private, everything about them, and everything they had ever done would be made public knowledge. Even the most insignificant details like how many fillings they had had, or what shoe size they wore could become known by the entire country. For the former director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, it was no different. Rumours about his sexuality, his childhood, and transvestism surrounded him throughout his career as leader of a prominent investigative organization. His life was surrounded by controversy from the time he entered the bureau, possibly even earlier in his life, during his childhood and education.

J. Edgar...