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replied to Trevor Burrows's status

(Editing to mark this as the start of my running commentary on

Beverly Gage - *G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century*)

A few themes I'm particularly interested in as I read Beverly Gage's *G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century*:

Theme 1:
The construction and evolution of state power, both as centered upon an individual and as enacted through changing social/political/cultural structures. Gage writes: "The truth is that power does not simply arrive. It has to be created, policy by policy, law by law, step by excruciating step" (xvi). Tracking what this means in relation to not just Hoover's power, but governmental power in the 20th c., should be an interesting project.

replied to Trevor Burrows's status

Theme 2: Power beyond electoral politics. Hoover represents a form of authority based in governmental-bureaucratic structures beyond electoral politics, structures outside the normal purview of American political life but still anchored to it. His story is very much the story of this form of power and influence in 20th c. America.

replied to Trevor Burrows's status

Theme 3: Religion and civil service.

I've never really thought a great deal about religion as a particular motivating factor in Hoover's crusades, but Gage is setting up religion as a critical part of Hoover's early make-up. So I'll be reading to fit this into larger narratives about 20th c. US religion, esp. modern Christian conservatism on the one hand, and the place of religion in the construction of the 20th-c "American Way" -- while tying this back to Hoover's unique authority and position.

replied to Trevor Burrows's status

Theme 4: The longer arc of 20th c conservatism.

Gage makes a good point in the intro: we often begin the story of the rise of 20th c. (political) conservatism through Buckley -> Goldwater -> Nixon and the Southern Strategy. Hoover sheds light on a longer, earlier arc that we might take more seriously; Gage suggests his conservatism is established very early, and perhaps represents a version of conservative state-building that is hard to recognize in today's political climate.