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Clint Eastwood's new film J. Edgar, about former head of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover, speculates that Hoover was gay and in a long-term relationship with Clyde Tolson, the bachelor who inherited his estate. There has been much speculation about Hoover's sexuality, it seems. A lot of the men assigned closest to him were good-looking and it's been claimed he enjoyed cross-dressing.
This got me thinking: why are the personal lives of those in the public eye, especially political figures, so fascinating to many people? Does it matter if Hoover was gay, Thomas Jefferson slept with slaves or Winston Churchill suffered from depression?
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
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it does if he wasn't open about it. men in their positions are supposed to be men of integrity. that said, the times were a lot less kind to gays than they are now in the usa, it does matter if someone who leads the country suffers from serious depression. in Churchill's case we were lucky but it could have been worse. imagine a depressed president with a decision to make on whether or not to employ nukes? it could affect his judgement hehe. back to hoover. it would have been okay if didn't blackmail lots of politicians for doing the same thing he did, it's reputed he had files on all the governments and all the presidents of his time, i think there were 3 or 4.
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Yeah I was just thinking about how much of a hypocrite Hoover would have been if he was gay. He also kept files on Eleanor Roosevelt's alleged lesbian lovers, possibly so he could blackmail her.
I hadn't thought about that but yeah a depressed world leader could theoretically lead to disaster. Mental illness isn't the greatest asset when you have your finger on the nuclear button
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe
Posts: 5,057
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i think hoover (if the media have it right (which would be unusual)) was gay. all indications point to it.
at least in the modern day and age (in some countries) it's okay to be openly gay. you may or may not get voted into office but you probably won't get stoned to death unless you go into a bikers bar, then again everyone in a bikers bar is usually stoned aren't they
i thin depression can be classed a psychological problem and as long as it's being treated probably wouldn't be a problem. can you imagine rush limburgh having controls of the buttons, or someone like ?
