Family WeeJcly March 20, i960
The Unknown Side
of J. Edgar Hoover
You know him as a bulldog-like gang buster and spy hunter, but behind
this grim facade is the quiet peace born of unwavering faith
By CURTIS MITCHELL
A square-jawed, unsmiling man walks down the
aisle of Washington's National Presbyterian
Church each Sunday morning at precisely 9 o'clock.
He is rarely late. He is always in the same pew,
quietly worshiping among many Capital dignitaries.
History lives in the time-stained sanctuary where
this bulldog-like man finds peace from his usual
demanding routine. To the right of the pulpit is the
famous President's pew, brought here from the old
First Presbyterian Church that was started in a .
toolshed behind the White House. Presidents
Jackson, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, and Cleveland
were members of the congregation. .
Ulysses S. Grant sat in Pew 32, on the left aisle.
Pew 41, left of the center aisle, is reserved for Pres
ident and Mrs. Eisenhower. Not far away on the left
side is the pew of the square-jawed worshiper, J.
Edgar Hoover.
Dr. Edward Elson, famous as the President's
pastor, begins to preach. Hoover listens intently, as
if afraid some phrase might escape him, and his
manner seems to soften. Here, in God's house, in the
same congregation he first joined as a boy in knee
pants, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investi
gation is truly at home.
Of all those worshipers with him at the early
Sunday service, only a few know of how he nearly
became a divinity student instead of a lawyer; or of
how surely, knowing his character and capacity,
had he taken that step, he himself would be preach
ing in that famous Presbyterian pulpit today.
The long tussle between the cross and the badge
began for John Edgar Hoover after the turn of the
century on a Sunday evening in the modest Wash
ington home of his father, Dickerson Hoover, super
' intendent of printing and engraving for a Govern
ment agency. On that evening, the first of many,
an old man with a great, white beard came to sup
per. He was John Hitz, the first Swiss minister to
the United States, a robust Calvinist, and J. Edgar's
great-uncle on his mothers' side.
After supper. Uncle John led the family in a per
iod of solemn Bible reading. The faithful already
had attended Sunday school and one preaching ses
sion. At the end of the reading, everyone knelt to -pray.
It was a tableau common to many communi
ties of that period, and repeated often in the devout
Hoover household.
Annie hoover, stern and God-fearing, was indom-
itably ambitious for her . four children. Each
Sunday, in preparation for Sunday school, she
scrubbed John Edgar's ears, combed his hair, and
rehearsed him in the Bible verses he was required
. to memorize. He was a bright child. One winter, he
learned so many Scriptural passages that the church
awarded him a New Testament Well-thumbed and
frayed, it is a treasure in his library today.
Young Edgar also served as a choirboy. His fresh
soprano was good enough for both chorus and solo
work. Old programs, if you were to search them out,
show a variety of social and religious events at
which he was the Christmas and Easter soloist. This
continued until his voice changed.
His real enthusiasm, however, was Sunday school.
And his closest friend and advisor was the pastor of
the old First Presbyterian Church, Dr. Donald C.
MacLeod. Hoover recalls, "If ministers were like
Doctor MacLeod, L wanted to be one."
MacLeod romped with his young charges, played
baseball in the park with them, and carefully fanned
the precious fire he thought he detected in young
Hoover. He became John Edgar's personal and
spiritual advisor.
Inevitably, opportunity opened before the eager
youth. "We want you to teach a class of boys in our
Sunday school," Doctor MacLeod said. "How about
it? You'd be fine for the boys."
"I don't know anything about teaching," Hoover
replied hesitantly.
"Well help you."
His class grew with his skill and his passion for
Hoover's early decision to work in government instead Medal for Distinguished Federal Service on FBI Direc
of the ministry is reflected as President confers Gold - tor (Eisenhower's right) and four other officials.
detail, and eventually he became Sunday-school
superintendent.
"For a number of years," says Doctor Elson, his
pastor today, "many people thought that J. Edgar
Hoover was headed for the Gospel ministry."
. Why he turned toward legal training is a mystery,
even to Hoover. Today, he says, "I really don't know
why I chose law. You come to a crossroads, and
you've got to go one way or the other. I was torn,
but there was never any figuring out the advantage
of one against the other. We had no lawyers in our
family, and I don't recall that I knew any. But sud
denly I took the turn and knew that's what I wanted
to be an attorney."
The "turn" took place in 1913 when he was grad
uated from high school as class valedictorian. Doc
tor MacLeod had accepted another pastorate and
left Washington. Perhaps his absence made the crit
ical difference. Perhaps young John Edgar felt that
he could make his forthright Christianity more ef
fective as a layman. At any rate, he got a job that
autumn as a messenger at the Library of Congress
and entered the night classes of George Washington
Law School. Working by day, studying by night, he
won his master's degree in law four years later and
moved into .the Department of Justice at $990 per
year. He has never worked for any other employer.
Through the years, he has made it clear that,
though he would never wear the cloth, his mind
would never change its religious bent He is sure
that a basic cause of the crime he fights is lack of
family religion.
"The criminal is the product of spiritual starva
tion," he says. "Someone failed miserably to bring
him to know God, love, and serve Him. The Sunday
school teaches the child to 'rule his spirit' and to
place a reliance on God which will not be shaken."
HE cot his chance to practice his principles in 1924.
He was just 29 years old when Harlan Fiske
Stone, the nation's attorney general assigned to
clean up the mess of the Harding regime, summoned
Hoover to his office.
"Sit down, Mr. Hoover," the stern New Englander
said. The two men measured each other, the Puritan
and the Presbyterian. Stone said, "Young man, I
want you to become acting head of the Bureau of
Investigation."
Everyone knew that the Bureau was loaded with
incompetents and crooks. Efforts to fire some of
them had failed because of high-level protection.
"Fll take it on certain conditions," Hoover replied.
"What are they?" ,
The Bureau must be divorced from politics and
not be a catchall for political hacks. Appointments
must be made on merit, promotions on proved abil
ity. Finally, the Bureau must be responsible only
to the Attorney General himself, only to you, sir."
The young lawyer's eyes did not flicker under the
fierce gaze of the old barrister. Finally, Stone said,
Family Weekly. March 20. I960