Grade 5-8-From the 1920s until his death in 1972, Hoover was, for better or worse, the driving force behind "the largest and most authoritative" investigative agency in the U.S., and Streissguth clearly shows how and why. The Mafia, Charles Lindbergh, communism, civil rights, and the Kennedys were among the major issues and figures that the bureau dealt with under his leadership. The author discusses his early years; his fledgling career at the Library of Congress; his devotion to his mother and to his companion, Clyde Tolson; and his compulsions for neatness, control, and order. Hoover was a savvy player of politics and believed that he always had in mind the best interests of the country he loved, carrying out what he thought to be his duties with relatively progressive means and a micromanagement style.
