The Director: My Years Assisting J. Edgar Hoover
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- Create Date：2021-08-15 17:21:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Paul Letersky
- ISBN：B08RP82G1D
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Summary
*Running Time => 7 hrs。 and 30 mins。*
The first book ever written about FBI Director J。 Edgar Hoover by a member of his own personal staff - his former assistant， Paul Letersky - 'THE DIRECTOR' offers unprecedented insight into an American legend。
The 1960s and 1970s were arguably among America’s most turbulent post-Civil War decades。 While the Vietnam War continued seemingly without end， protests and riots ravaged most cities， the Kennedys and MLK were assassinated， and corruption found its way to the highest levels of politics with Watergate。
In 1965， in the midst of the chaos， twenty-two-year old Paul Letersky was assigned to assist the legendary FBI director J。 Edgar Hoover who’d just turned seventy and had， by then， led the Bureau for an incredible 41 years。 Hoover was a rare and complex man who walked confidently among the most powerful。 His personal privacy was more tightly guarded than the secret “files” that he carefully collected - and that were so feared by corrupt politicians。 Through Letersky’s close working relationship with Hoover， and the trust and confidence he gained from Hoover’s most loyal senior assistant for decades， Helen Gandy， Paul became one of the few able to enter the Director’s secretive - and sometimes perilous - world。
Since Hoover's death half a century ago， millions of words have been written about him and hundreds of hours of TV dramas and A-list Hollywood films produced。 But until now， there have been virtually no accounts from someone who， for a period of years， spent hours with the Director on a daily basis。
Balanced， honest， and keenly observed， 'THE DIRECTOR' offers a unique inside look at one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in American history。
©2021 Paul Letersky （P）2021 Simon & Schuster Audio
The first book ever written about FBI Director J。 Edgar Hoover by a member of his own personal staff - his former assistant， Paul Letersky - 'THE DIRECTOR' offers unprecedented insight into an American legend。
The 1960s and 1970s were arguably among America’s most turbulent post-Civil War decades。 While the Vietnam War continued seemingly without end， protests and riots ravaged most cities， the Kennedys and MLK were assassinated， and corruption found its way to the highest levels of politics with Watergate。
In 1965， in the midst of the chaos， twenty-two-year old Paul Letersky was assigned to assist the legendary FBI director J。 Edgar Hoover who’d just turned seventy and had， by then， led the Bureau for an incredible 41 years。 Hoover was a rare and complex man who walked confidently among the most powerful。 His personal privacy was more tightly guarded than the secret “files” that he carefully collected - and that were so feared by corrupt politicians。 Through Letersky’s close working relationship with Hoover， and the trust and confidence he gained from Hoover’s most loyal senior assistant for decades， Helen Gandy， Paul became one of the few able to enter the Director’s secretive - and sometimes perilous - world。
Since Hoover's death half a century ago， millions of words have been written about him and hundreds of hours of TV dramas and A-list Hollywood films produced。 But until now， there have been virtually no accounts from someone who， for a period of years， spent hours with the Director on a daily basis。
Balanced， honest， and keenly observed， 'THE DIRECTOR' offers a unique inside look at one of the most powerful law enforcement figures in American history。
©2021 Paul Letersky （P）2021 Simon & Schuster Audio
Reviews
Leslie
，
I enjoyed reading this account of the FBI under J Edgar Hoover。 Not really knowing much about this but knowing about the times during which Hoover was director I found fascination with how things were done and why and am proud of our government historically。
Annie
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I was intrigued by this book because the author worked closely with J。 Edgar Hoover。 The first part of the book explores what it was like to work within the FBI in headquarters and later he describes his work in field offices including in Hijacking cases。 Fascinating read！ I felt like I had a good inside view of the inner workings of the FBI as well as relationships with the Presidents and Attorney Generals。 In general， Letersky tries to paint a balanced view and is clearly biased in favor of J。 I was intrigued by this book because the author worked closely with J。 Edgar Hoover。 The first part of the book explores what it was like to work within the FBI in headquarters and later he describes his work in field offices including in Hijacking cases。 Fascinating read！ I felt like I had a good inside view of the inner workings of the FBI as well as relationships with the Presidents and Attorney Generals。 In general， Letersky tries to paint a balanced view and is clearly biased in favor of J。 Edgar Hoover。 Some of what he says I take with a grain of salt about how he depicts "the bad guys" but he does talk about some of the arrests he had to make that he did not feel comfortable with so that helped convince me that he was not just touting the party line。 In general， this was a very interesting read and I definitely learned new things about J。 Edgar Hoover's personality as well as others。 。。。more
Alana
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I picked this up on a whim because I’ve always loved spy stories but I honestly expected it to be a little dry。 It turns out that Letersky is an excellent writer and the book was captivating。 The audiobook’s narrator had a fabulously gravelly voice that seemed appropriate for an FBI Special Agent。 Letersky’s stories and observations about J。 Edgar Hoover were fascinating but it was his friendship with Miss Gandy that brought the heart to the story。 Hoover is a controversial figure but Letersky p I picked this up on a whim because I’ve always loved spy stories but I honestly expected it to be a little dry。 It turns out that Letersky is an excellent writer and the book was captivating。 The audiobook’s narrator had a fabulously gravelly voice that seemed appropriate for an FBI Special Agent。 Letersky’s stories and observations about J。 Edgar Hoover were fascinating but it was his friendship with Miss Gandy that brought the heart to the story。 Hoover is a controversial figure but Letersky provides a balanced and contextualized look at him。 I really enjoyed the insight into this slice of history。 Thank you to @simon。audio for this review copy。 The opinions are my own。 。。。more
Emily
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I completely devoured this memoir in one sitting courtesy of NetGalley。 The Director: My Years Assisting J。 Edgar Hoover by Paul Letersky completely drew me in from the first sentence--nobody cried at his funeral。 Peter Letersky， a former FBI Agent， details his early days as an FBI desk assistant giving glorified tours to the public， essentially writing Hoover's replies to fan mail and doing basically whatever grunt work is asked of him when he gets promoted to working directly for Hoover。I'm a I completely devoured this memoir in one sitting courtesy of NetGalley。 The Director: My Years Assisting J。 Edgar Hoover by Paul Letersky completely drew me in from the first sentence--nobody cried at his funeral。 Peter Letersky， a former FBI Agent， details his early days as an FBI desk assistant giving glorified tours to the public， essentially writing Hoover's replies to fan mail and doing basically whatever grunt work is asked of him when he gets promoted to working directly for Hoover。I'm a huge fan of memoirs that tell us how the sausage is made or give a little inside baseball， and this is exactly that for those who are curious about what it was like to work for the FBI toward the end of its glory days as well as in the turbulent， culture shift from the 1950s to 1970s。 There are lots of intriguing anecdotes about Letersky's daily interactions with Hoover， his early days as a desk jockey as well as his eventual field work as a special agent。 By far my favorite "character" lurking in these pages was Helen Gandy， a totally unknown female historical figure--and the highest ranked （G-17） and highest paid woman ever at a government agency--that I was very pleased to learn about。 It made me want to dig deeper into her life as well。For me this was a total page turner--informative and engrossing。 。。。more
Heather
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An honest look at the F。B。I。 under。 J Edgar Hoover。 Paul Letersky was there as his assistant and a former Special Agent。 It’s a rare glimpse into a storied man
Randal White
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An easy to read， intriguing look into J Edgar Hoover。 Told by a former FBI agent who was just beginning his career， when he was assigned as basically an office assistant to Hoover's DC office。 There he witnessed the intrigues， the maneuvering， the strategies， and the conspiracies that Hoover employed and was subject to。 Letersky manages to make Hoover a much more human character than I was used to， full of good points and bad。 Capable of instilling an almost god-like aura from those who worked f An easy to read， intriguing look into J Edgar Hoover。 Told by a former FBI agent who was just beginning his career， when he was assigned as basically an office assistant to Hoover's DC office。 There he witnessed the intrigues， the maneuvering， the strategies， and the conspiracies that Hoover employed and was subject to。 Letersky manages to make Hoover a much more human character than I was used to， full of good points and bad。 Capable of instilling an almost god-like aura from those who worked for him。 I enjoyed the insights into Hoover's life， as well as the political jockeying from those who were around him。 Despite the excesses Hoover might have participated in， I think that we were lucky to have him as a steady hand through some of our country's most confusing times。 I found the book hard to put down。 。。。more
Mickey
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Like most readers， I'm sure I had or even still have an opinion concerning J。 Edgar Hoover， either good or bad。 Reading this biography did not change that opinion of the man however， it did correct a few of my misconceptions。 Paul Letersky chronicles his association with Hoover from when it began in the '60's， to the Director's death in the 1970's。 The POV is clearly that of someone who admired the subject being discussed， even though Mr。 Letersky attempts to juxtapose the positive with occasion Like most readers， I'm sure I had or even still have an opinion concerning J。 Edgar Hoover， either good or bad。 Reading this biography did not change that opinion of the man however， it did correct a few of my misconceptions。 Paul Letersky chronicles his association with Hoover from when it began in the '60's， to the Director's death in the 1970's。 The POV is clearly that of someone who admired the subject being discussed， even though Mr。 Letersky attempts to juxtapose the positive with occasional criticisms as well。 For that reason， I recommend this book to anyone interested in increasing their knowledge of U。S。 history and one of the people who influenced it。I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest and unbiased review。 。。。more
Peter Ackerman
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