Clyde Tolson
|
|
Clyde_Tolson.jpg
Clyde Tolson, Former Associate Director of the FBI.
Clyde Anderson Tolson (May 22, 1900 - April 14, 1975) was associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was primarily responsible for personnel and disciplinary matters in the bureau, rather than crime-fighting.
Tolson was born in Laredo, Missouri, and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1926. After failing his first attempt, he joined the FBI in 1927 and by 1930 had been promoted to assistant director (later associate director).
J. Edgar Hoover described Tolson as his alter ego. The men worked closely together during the day, but also took meals together, went to night clubs together, and vacationed together.
Tolson was acting director after Hoover's death on May 2, 1972, but he was replaced by L. Patrick Gray the next day and left the FBI two weeks later, leaving operational control of the FBI to third-in-command Mark Felt. Tolson inherited Hoover's estate and moved into his home. Tolson is buried a few yards away from Hoover in the Congressional Cemetery.
The close relationship between Hoover and Tolson is often cited as evidence that they were both homosexuals, but there is no direct evidence that this was so.