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Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation
J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, and Roy Cohn were titanic figures in midcentury America, wielding national power in government and the legal system through intimidation and insinuation. Hoover’s FBI thrived on secrecy, threats, and illegal surveillance, while McCarthy and Cohn will forever be associated with the infamous anticommunist smear campaign of the early 1950s, which culminated in McCarthy’s public disgrace during televised Senate hearings. In Gossip Men, Christopher M. Elias takes a probing look at these tarnished figures to reveal a host of startling new connections among gender, sexuality, and national security in twentieth-century American politics. Elias illustrates how these three men solidified their power through the skillful use of deliberately misleading techniques like implication, hyperbole, and photographic manipulation. Just as provocatively, he shows that the American people of the 1950s were particularly primed to accept these coded threats because they were already familiar with such tactics from widely popular gossip magazines.
By using gossip as a lens to examine profound issues of state security and institutional power, Elias thoroughly transforms our understanding of the development of modern American political culture.
By using gossip as a lens to examine profound issues of state security and institutional power, Elias thoroughly transforms our understanding of the development of modern American political culture.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2021
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443 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 15, 2025
You’d think a book about three of the worst Americans would be more interesting.
August 3, 2023
For the most part, once you get past a somewhat draggy opening section dealing with the rise of the concept of "national security masculinity," Elias does deliver on the promise of the title and examines how Hoover, McCarthy & Cohn were skilled media manipulators who used the tabloids and gossip writers to pursue their personal agendas. The big innovator was undoubtedly Hoover, as the "G-Man," the federal law enforcement agent as paladin, was largely his creation. It should be noted that this book is covering Hoover at his zenith of influence and public popularity, before the damage wrought by the social conflicts of the 1960s in the United States eroded his image.
As compared to Hoover, McCarthy & Cohn were certainly following in the FBI leader's footsteps. But they picked up Hoover's tools, and sought Hoover's blessing, as they carved their own way through the American political scene. Having read this book, McCarthy comes off as a genuine self-made man, and one can understand how he basically out-worked the competition on the way to a place in the U.S. Senate, thus rising to his own level of incompetence. McCarthy was a natural-born anti-communist combatant, but the panic after the Soviet detonation of their first atomic device threw the man a life-line, at least until McCarthy could not transcend his own self-destructive tendencies. One can almost feel a certain amount of pity for the man.
This is compared to Roy Cohn, who was the epitome of the self-infatuated social climber, with the brassy ego to match, and whose self-indulgence contributed to McCarthy's downfall. Cohn would be important in any study of the politics of McCarthyism, if only for having rail-roaded Julius & Ethel Rosenberg to a death sentence for their involvement in atomic espionage. However, Cohn remained a "player" after his political zenith, and became something of a mentor to a certain Donald J. Trump, which is the point this book ends on.
Again, as mentioned, a big part of this study is the rise of tabloid journalism in the United States, and its symbiotic relationship with the performance of masculinity. Considering the current state of American journalism, and the ongoing American fight over the public performance of gender and sexuality, this is well worth pushing through the rather dry opening segment.
As compared to Hoover, McCarthy & Cohn were certainly following in the FBI leader's footsteps. But they picked up Hoover's tools, and sought Hoover's blessing, as they carved their own way through the American political scene. Having read this book, McCarthy comes off as a genuine self-made man, and one can understand how he basically out-worked the competition on the way to a place in the U.S. Senate, thus rising to his own level of incompetence. McCarthy was a natural-born anti-communist combatant, but the panic after the Soviet detonation of their first atomic device threw the man a life-line, at least until McCarthy could not transcend his own self-destructive tendencies. One can almost feel a certain amount of pity for the man.
This is compared to Roy Cohn, who was the epitome of the self-infatuated social climber, with the brassy ego to match, and whose self-indulgence contributed to McCarthy's downfall. Cohn would be important in any study of the politics of McCarthyism, if only for having rail-roaded Julius & Ethel Rosenberg to a death sentence for their involvement in atomic espionage. However, Cohn remained a "player" after his political zenith, and became something of a mentor to a certain Donald J. Trump, which is the point this book ends on.
Again, as mentioned, a big part of this study is the rise of tabloid journalism in the United States, and its symbiotic relationship with the performance of masculinity. Considering the current state of American journalism, and the ongoing American fight over the public performance of gender and sexuality, this is well worth pushing through the rather dry opening segment.
July 8, 2021
Interesting topic to explore, but ultimately it felt like Elias didn't quite get where he was going with all this.
May 12, 2025
i really liked this book, no joke. i thought that it was informative and quite witty at times!
however…
occasionally, there were chapters where i felt as though the author was answering a GCSE history narrative account question. i.e:
“write a narrative account of social instability within the US during the cold war era. (16 marks)
you may mention:
-McCarthy
- the red scare
- Cohn. ”
so yeah 3.7/5
however…
occasionally, there were chapters where i felt as though the author was answering a GCSE history narrative account question. i.e:
“write a narrative account of social instability within the US during the cold war era. (16 marks)
you may mention:
-McCarthy
- the red scare
- Cohn. ”
so yeah 3.7/5
July 10, 2022
Recommended reading
This book offers a different perspective of the much told tales of McCarthy, Cohn, and Hoover, all terribly flawed and destructive. A whole new generation of similar personalities infest governments and the media on all levels nowadays and their influence is pervasive. We have learned nothing.
This book offers a different perspective of the much told tales of McCarthy, Cohn, and Hoover, all terribly flawed and destructive. A whole new generation of similar personalities infest governments and the media on all levels nowadays and their influence is pervasive. We have learned nothing.
February 23, 2023
Elias looks at the intertwined lives of three conservatives in post-WWII America you employed gossip to help further their own careers while simultaneously destroying the lives of those who stood in their way. Elias employs the category of "surveillance state masculinity" to explain how these men were informed by and helped shape the post-war state. At the same time he argues that questions about morality became part of governance allowing Hoover, McCarthy & Cohn to tap into fears about changing roles in the post-war world.
"Since the end of World War I, American politics had been deeply influenced by a new political identity, which I call "surveillance state masculinity." 3
"Hoover, McCarthy, and Cohn all rose to power by taking advantage of political anxieties over changing gender roles, communist infiltration, shifting social mores, and perceived increases in criminality. Each conspicuously performed his masculinity, even while being hounded by rumours and insinuations that he was "queer" or a "sissy," and this insufficiently manly to guard the country's moral well-being and ensure its security." 5
"Finally, gossip's expansion was fuelled by the Cold War and the Second Red Scare, which popularized narratives of "secrecy" and "national intelligence." Information once derided as idle talk became a matter of national security: a man having sex with other men was not merely perverted but also someone who was both exposing himself to blackmail and undermining the nation's moral fabric." 6
"This story emerges at the crossroads of three historical developments: the creation of the national surveillance and security state; a revolution in gender and sexual politics; and the emergence of gossip as a key element of American politics & society." 7
"As a result, historian Martin Summers notes, "masculinity" supplanted "manliness" more rapidly among middle-class men than among working-class ones. "Manhood" had meant production and patriarchy; "masculinity" was social, consumerist, and constantly under pressure to be proven and reproved." 9
"There was also a change in the way manhood was depicted in works aimed at boys. Jeffrey Hantover notes that "popular magazine biographies of male heroes in the period 1894 to 1913 shifted from an earlier idealization of passive traits such as piety, thrift and industry to an emphasis on vigor, forcefulness, and mastery." 27-28
"The circumstances surrounding the Bureau's 1908 founding had left it without a clear operational directive, and thus it was constantly competing with other agencies-local, state, and federal-for jurisdiction." 49
"Each of McCarthy's propositions was based on a populist understanding of politics, one that attacked elitism, praised meritocracy, fed off voter distrust of the federal government, and purported to speak for the "common man." 91
"Better than any other politician of his era, McCarthy understood the power of the press as a vessel for connecting with the public. McCarthy chased headlines for reasons beyond his ego; he sought them as a means of dictating the terms of political conversation and formulating a cult of personality around himself." 135
"It was out of that immediate postwar cultural milieu that the golden age of American gossip magazines emerged. And at the moment when Joseph McCarthy was dominating political discourse in the the early 1950s, no gossip magazine was more popular than Confidential, the best-selling brainchild of veteran girlie-mag publisher, Robert Harrison." 135
"Gossip had been a perennial presence in American society, but the Cold War zeitgeist of fear, anxiety, suspicion, and secrecy helped the 1950s gossip industry's wares seem more relevant. Key to their success was a renewed emphasis on the idea that information itself both held power and could be dangerous." 141
"Furthermore, gossip magazines helped define and police the parameters of acceptable behaviour." 144
"The Hiss-Chambers case gave onlookers a specific example of that link: as Johnson notes, "both groups seemed to comprise hidden subcultures, with their own meeting places, literature, cultural codes, and bounds of loyalty." 148
"Since the end of World War I, American politics had been deeply influenced by a new political identity, which I call "surveillance state masculinity." 3
"Hoover, McCarthy, and Cohn all rose to power by taking advantage of political anxieties over changing gender roles, communist infiltration, shifting social mores, and perceived increases in criminality. Each conspicuously performed his masculinity, even while being hounded by rumours and insinuations that he was "queer" or a "sissy," and this insufficiently manly to guard the country's moral well-being and ensure its security." 5
"Finally, gossip's expansion was fuelled by the Cold War and the Second Red Scare, which popularized narratives of "secrecy" and "national intelligence." Information once derided as idle talk became a matter of national security: a man having sex with other men was not merely perverted but also someone who was both exposing himself to blackmail and undermining the nation's moral fabric." 6
"This story emerges at the crossroads of three historical developments: the creation of the national surveillance and security state; a revolution in gender and sexual politics; and the emergence of gossip as a key element of American politics & society." 7
"As a result, historian Martin Summers notes, "masculinity" supplanted "manliness" more rapidly among middle-class men than among working-class ones. "Manhood" had meant production and patriarchy; "masculinity" was social, consumerist, and constantly under pressure to be proven and reproved." 9
"There was also a change in the way manhood was depicted in works aimed at boys. Jeffrey Hantover notes that "popular magazine biographies of male heroes in the period 1894 to 1913 shifted from an earlier idealization of passive traits such as piety, thrift and industry to an emphasis on vigor, forcefulness, and mastery." 27-28
"The circumstances surrounding the Bureau's 1908 founding had left it without a clear operational directive, and thus it was constantly competing with other agencies-local, state, and federal-for jurisdiction." 49
"Each of McCarthy's propositions was based on a populist understanding of politics, one that attacked elitism, praised meritocracy, fed off voter distrust of the federal government, and purported to speak for the "common man." 91
"Better than any other politician of his era, McCarthy understood the power of the press as a vessel for connecting with the public. McCarthy chased headlines for reasons beyond his ego; he sought them as a means of dictating the terms of political conversation and formulating a cult of personality around himself." 135
"It was out of that immediate postwar cultural milieu that the golden age of American gossip magazines emerged. And at the moment when Joseph McCarthy was dominating political discourse in the the early 1950s, no gossip magazine was more popular than Confidential, the best-selling brainchild of veteran girlie-mag publisher, Robert Harrison." 135
"Gossip had been a perennial presence in American society, but the Cold War zeitgeist of fear, anxiety, suspicion, and secrecy helped the 1950s gossip industry's wares seem more relevant. Key to their success was a renewed emphasis on the idea that information itself both held power and could be dangerous." 141
"Furthermore, gossip magazines helped define and police the parameters of acceptable behaviour." 144
"The Hiss-Chambers case gave onlookers a specific example of that link: as Johnson notes, "both groups seemed to comprise hidden subcultures, with their own meeting places, literature, cultural codes, and bounds of loyalty." 148
Read
October 6, 2024Read Introduction, Ch. 4 and 6, and Epilogue (a.k.a. all the juicy Roy Cohn stuff).
It's Roy Cohn, so it's going to be interesting, but both information and analysis tend toward shallow. Still worth a read if you're interested in the man. Elias's framework is very "gender as performance" which...whatever. Based on what I read, he never supports his claims about "surveillance state masculinity," which even he concludes mean different things to McCarthy, Hoover, and Cohn. Though he does make the solid point that Cohn's claim to masculinity was based entirely on his abilities as a power broker and not on cheesy Clint Eastwood crap.
It's Roy Cohn, so it's going to be interesting, but both information and analysis tend toward shallow. Still worth a read if you're interested in the man. Elias's framework is very "gender as performance" which...whatever. Based on what I read, he never supports his claims about "surveillance state masculinity," which even he concludes mean different things to McCarthy, Hoover, and Cohn. Though he does make the solid point that Cohn's claim to masculinity was based entirely on his abilities as a power broker and not on cheesy Clint Eastwood crap.
March 25, 2022
Fascinating story! Elias gives a very detailed, rich explanation of this important part of 20th century American hsitory.
July 27, 2022
3.5. Solid and readable enough but unspectacular.
November 7, 2022
another book really about you know who...
February 1, 2023
dense & heavy handed
December 25, 2023
Descrbing the nature and effectiveness of gossip from the perspective of J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy and Roh Cohn in politics.
come-back-to-this
December 9, 2024ah. what if i stopped being normal
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews