Federal Foes

Beverly Gage’s new biography of J. Edgar Hoover, G-Man, perceptively situates him within “the rise of the administrative state” that “came of age alongside Hoover,” in the author’s words.¹ Indeed, partly because of the fbi’s own self-understanding, arising from its “crucial origins in the Progressive Era,” the current attempts to bring the Bureau to heel are unlikely to produce any meaningful change. The real problems with the fbi are difficult to grasp, and while it appears the Republican voter base would support radical restructuring or even abolition of the agency, powerful incentives in Congress will likely prevent anything more than cosmetic reforms. Gage, an academic historian, does not quite say all this, but her comprehensive treatment of Hoover—who formed the fbi’s character and political identity over forty-eight years as its director—provides significant evidence to support these suspicions.