(his young nieces sometimes surreptitiously listening), he learned to talk rapidly – and except in moments of great stress – overcame the problem. But he didn’t stop at that. A nightmare common to all stutterers is the prospect of addressing a crowd. Hoover took up debating, and by his junior year at Central High School had led the team undefeated through twelve straight contests, himself taking the affirmative on such topics as, “Cuba Should Be Annexed to the United States.”
Another biography, J. Edgar Hoover: Controversial FBI Director by Kevin Cunningham (2006), gives more insight, “Though Edward did well in school, he began stuttering in the first grade. His father thought it would work itself out, but his mother sought treatment. The solution proposed was that he talk faster. Edgar practiced in his room for hours with a single-mindedness that would show throughout his life. It took time to master fluent speaking. Even in adulthood he needed to practice. But he conquered the stutter enough that he became star of his debate team in high school.”
Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover by Richard Hack, a 2004 biography, offers further insight, “By the time he entered his first year at Brent Elementary School several blocks from his home, Edgar was a precocious reader with a shy personality that intensified when he developed a stutter as the school year was ending……..While his father chose to comfort his son with promises that the condition would pass with time, young Hoover’s mother took him to specialists in search of an immediate cure.” Later in the book, a passage about Hoover’s years as FBI Director, “He was, however, far from satisfied. Despite years of speech making, Hoover was troubled by the occasional stutter, practicing long into the night to overcome the affliction.”
The release of the movie Killers of the Flower Moon will not address Hoover’s stuttering like the book version but will provide a look at how the modern FBI was formed. People who stutter will no doubt be amazed that the very first FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover, was a person who stuttered and successfully managed his speech throughout his life and high-profile career that remains controversial to this day.
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