J Edgar Hoover

This last month I read "J. Edgar Hoover" by Curt Gentry.

I saw it while we were visiting the Library of Congress back in Sept/Oct. There were several presidential books, and biographies. I used my Goodreads App bar code scanner to quickly file books that looked interesting. I just happened to scan this book. Its a great read!

I recently discovered that I do enjoy reading biographies. Once I realized this, I stopped and thought, back in high school I read a biography on General George McClelland, and I remember really liking it and going through it really quickly. Had I realized this back when I was in college I probably would have maybe majored in History, or taken more History classes.

A while back I also read "American Lion" a biography on Andrew Jackson we picked up on our way to DC  from Joplin when we stopped in Tennessee. We got it at the gift shop at The Hermitage, thought we couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money to take the tour of the actual house, nor did we have the three hours it takes to tour it.

So, back to the book. J Edgar Hoover lived from 1895-1972. So he is an adult during a time in history when everything is changing, and not only does he live during these years, but he has a very important job, with lots of political leverage. During his time at the FBI he sees 10 presidents come and go, and serves directly under 8 of them as director. The amount of history that he lives, and creates is honestly astounding. More importantly, the amount of corruption not only in the FBI but across all branches of government at the time is a real eye opener. There are things that the author talks about, that when you can wrap your head around the fact that they really happened, just blow your mind again. It brings into perspective our political world today.

As I was reading it, the new about NSA spying on Americans and also foreigners broke. For once, I was actually so unsurprised by this because, well, its nothing new. Really! To get all the details you will have to read the book!

One of the things I also like about these two biographies is that a bulk of the persons life is lived here in Washington DC. The places mentioned in the book are places I have rode my bike to, sat and read in, and driven by as I take Mike to Law School on rainy or snowy days.

I now am having a hard time deciding what my next biography should be. A couple of contenders are:
- Simon Bolivar
- Nelson Mandela
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Abraham Lincoln
- Benito Juarez
- Thomas Jefferson

Note that Bolivar and Lincoln I have already picked out books for. The rest I have not had a recommendation for a certain book. A Mandela bio is a new one on my list.
Do you have any recommendations on my other want to read? if so, please let me know in the comments.