Even Foxes Cower

J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, represented the anxiety and mystery at the heart of American power. This is an unearthed truth about the man who controlled the FBI for fifty years, hunted political opponents, blackmailed politicians, and had a peculiar private life. For nearly fifty years, the most powerful lawman in America was also the most loathed celebrity. Throughout his nine presidential administrations, there were a series of attempts to remove him from his position. During this time, Hoover profoundly altered the structure of domestic law enforcement by strengthening the FBI's powers and evolving his G-men into an unrivaled federal crime-fighting unit. Despite Hoover's services to the system of criminal justice his image started to rapidly decline following his untimely death as a result of rumors and gossip.