Wicked Capitol Hill by Robert S. Pohl

Author:Robert S. Pohl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2012-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

The Scandals of J. Edgar Hoover

Few people have had their reputation decay as completely as J. Edgar Hoover. In life, he was the epitome of upright D.C., the G-man who always got his man, the confidant to nine presidents and, in short, a D.C. institution.

After his death, he has become, at best, a figure of derision. A closeted homosexual, possibly a cross-dresser, who managed to cling to power as long as he did through judicious use of dirt that he had dug up on both political opponents and allies. The revelations that came out after his death painted a picture entirely at odds with the image of rectitude Hoover had maintained throughout his life. Where did a man like this come from? How did he end up with two so completely opposite interpretations of his life?

Seward Square is the epitome of the infill development between the Navy Yard and the Capitol. Surrounded by houses built during the wave of construction that built up Capitol Hill around the turn of the twentieth century, it is a perfect place to live for those who work in and around the Capitol. Other than at rush hour, it is a quiet square surrounded by grand houses.

In one of these houses, on January 1, 1895, Anna Marie and Dickerson Naylor Hoover welcomed their fourth child. Their newborn was particularly welcome, as an older sister, Sadie Marguerite, had died a year and a half earlier, at not even three years old.

As a young boy, Hoover made a name for himself. This name was “Speed,” either for the rapidity with which he spoke or for the eagerness with which he delivered groceries for vendors at Eastern Market. Hoover attended Central High, where he was a member of the high school’s regiment, as well as the debate team, and graduated as valedictorian, thus meeting Vice President Thomas Marshall, who spoke at the ceremony.

Hoover remained at home for college, attending George Washington University, where he was president of the Kappa Alpha Order. He received his undergraduate degree in law in 1916, followed by his LLM in 1917, earning money all the while working as an indexer at the Library of Congress, just a few blocks from his home.

Upon his graduation, Hoover was immediately hired by the Justice Department. Although he had been a member of the local militia and had registered on June 5 of that year—as every resident had to—Hoover’s joining the Justice Department ensured that he would not be drafted, which was important to Hoover, as his father had to retire due to illness.

On November 19, 1917, Woodrow Wilson ordered the registration of all enemy aliens. A previous law, signed in April of that year, had already restricted the movement of all those who still possessed a passport from one of the nations the United States now found itself at war with. This new law required a new subsection of the Department of Justice to be formed, and the newly hired lawyer was placed in charge. Hoover took to his new job with relish, compiling a huge database of resident aliens in the country.

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