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JohnDunstable t1_iu992sj wrote

Reply to comment by ironroad18 in TIL Al Capone was only 33 when he was locked away for tax evasion and developed neurosyphilis, leading to his death at 48. Eliot Ness was 27 when he formed the Untouchables--he died in a state of financial ruin in his 50s, likely hastened by his heavy drinking in his later life by capsaicinintheeyes

This is an awesome post! Thank you for clarifying, I certainly did confound the worst parts of the stories into a single individual. And I can only imagine that dozens if not hundreds of other agents who crossed Hoover in a way or rubbed him wrong in a way that resulted in executive retaliation.

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ironroad18 t1_iu99gbj wrote

Hoover was a monster, IMHO. Yes, he helped build the FBI into the primer law enforcement agency in the US, but he did so on the backs of several loyal employees and by breaking the very laws and rules he was tasked with enforcing.

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