The Manufacture of Consent

Stephen M. Underhill's book examines Federal Bureau of Investigation (Fbi) director J. Edgar Hoover's rhetoric and domestic propaganda. The basic thesis is convincing and, indeed, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Hoover's Fbi during this period. The Manufacture of Consent, however, has some less convincing subsidiary arguments and issues with citations. Underhill traces the roots of Hoover's rhetoric to his upbringing during the Progressive Era and his early years as a government bureaucrat. Hoover's rhetoric embodied racist, Anglo-American frontier mythology and detached scientific progressivism. It was during New Deal expansionism that Hoover embraced media manipulation to popularize his Fbi. He clashed with idealistic New Dealers on crime reform, but through careful work, Hoover and his Crime Records Section (the Fbi's public relations arm) cultivated congressional allies who helped push the Fbi story line of Hoover as frontier hero battling crime. During the debate

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