The Most Feared Man In America

This biography of J. Edgar Hoover differs from all previous books on the subject. My book posits and documents the existence of two political myths about Hoover. One is a God myth, which was created intentionally by a long-standing FBI public relations campaign. The other myth is a Devil myth that emerged in reaction to the God myth. Both of these mythic perceptions are unidimensional stereotypical depictions of the man, which obscure the reality of the former FBI director. The author uses declassified FBI memoranda to shed light on the personality and professional performance of Mr. Hoover through examination of his marginalia. Hoover’s handwritten comments in the margins of FBI memos are candid and fascinating manifestations of his true self.

About the Author:

Dr. Dirk C. Duran-Gibson, Ph. D. teaches interviewing, persuasion, communication theory, professional communication, magazine writing, and serial murder communication at the University of New Mexico. He has published a book on communication in the practice of law, a half-dozen books
on serial murder, and two books on outer space studies. He is an acknowledged authority on product recalls, serial murder communication, and outer space, and has been interviewed more than one hundred times by international, national and regional media. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife, Linda Duran-Gibson, BA, MA, CCC.