G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

Hoover is generally reviled today, but as Gage shows, he was popular throughout most of his life. Do you find any aspects of his character redeeming, or was his positive reputation mainly a byproduct of his alignment with his time and place?

Gage focuses on the contradictory aspects of Hoover’s personality. What do you see as the main contradictions, and how did Hoover’s inability to reconcile them drive his life and career?

Hoover famously spoke out against the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans—a rare instance when he was more committed to civil rights than his own government. Does this episode show that Hoover was not as prejudiced as he is generally considered to be, or are there other factors at play that render this instance unique?