A Hang-Up on Sex

Feldstein, M., & Karin Assmann (2026). “’A Hang-Up on Sex’”: Columnist Jack Anderson’s Exposé of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI Sex Files.” Journalism History, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2026.2723049

Abstract: For decades, journalists glorified J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI’s legendary founding director, arguably the most powerful government bureaucrat in American history. But in 1972, syndicated columnist Jack Anderson published classified FBI records that documented how Hoover abused his power by systematically compiling secret dossiers on the sex lives of law-abiding Americans. Anderson’s exposé, instigated by a secret whistleblower who risked prison to ferret out incriminating evidence from the FBI’s own files, stoked public outrage, launched congressional investigations, and helped trigger political reforms. The clash between America’s top cop and its number-one muckraker dramatically symbolized Washington journalism’s transformation in the late 1960s and early 1970s from a professional ethos that deferred to authority to one that challenged it. Based on oral history interviews, declassified government documents, and other primary sources, this article reveals the identity and motives of Anderson’s informant, and how the government tried and failed to prosecute him. This analysis also examines what journalists had previously known about the FBI’s sexual smears, and why they failed to expose these abuses for so long.