He gathered derogatory information on the offending journalist, and asserted – falsely – that he did not use perfume. When a magazine article in the 1930s referred to Hoover's "mincing" gait, and a diplomat commented on his "conspicuous perfume", Hoover struck back. In real life, all Washington knew was that the pair dined daily together, vacationed together, did everything but move in together, and the whispers flew. Though there is just one passionate kiss between Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer, the two actors portraying them in the movie, the relationship with Tolson is a central theme.
Clint Eastwood referred to it this year before the launch of his movie, when he assured the J Edgar Hoover Foundation that J Edgar would not "portray an open homosexual relationship" between Hoover and his long-time male companion, Clyde Tolson.Įastwood stretched the truth. Hoover himself, meanwhile, had a personal secret that – in his era – could have destroyed him if revealed. They are dabbling in sex-life scandals and plain blackmail… Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over, and all congressmen and senators are afraid of him." Harry S Truman wrote during his presidency: "We want no Gestapo or secret police. Most presidents before him, though, had had cause to fear Hoover or been troubled by what his FBI had become. Nixon, soon to be disgraced and forced to resign, was of course himself no paragon. "We have on our hands here a man who will pull down the temple with him, including me." In private, on hearing that he had died, Nixon had responded merely: "Jesus Christ! That old cocksucker!" Months earlier, closeted with key advisers, he had held forth on the need to persuade the elderly Hoover to resign. For public consumption when he died, President Richard Nixon eulogised him as: "One of the giants… a national symbol of courage, patriotism and granite-like honesty and integrity." He ordered flags to fly at half-mast and that Hoover's body lie in state in the Capitol.
The first Director of the FBI, he remained in office for 48 years, from his appointment after the First World War to his death in 1972, achieving fame and extraordinary power.