Helen Gandy
| Helen Gandy | |
|---|---|
Helen Gandy in her office in the Justice Department in the 1940s, by Theodor Horydczak
|
|
| Born |
April 8, 1897 Fairton or Port Norris, New Jersey |
| Died | July 7, 1988 (aged 91) DeLand or Orange City, Florida |
| Occupation | Secretary/Civil servant |
Helen W. Gandy (April 8, 1897 – July 7, 1988) was an American civil servant. For 54 years, she was the secretary to Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover, who called her "indispensable". She exercised great behind-the-scenes influence on Hoover and the workings of the Bureau. Following Hoover's death in 1972, she spent weeks destroying his "Personal File", thought to be where the most incriminating material he used to manipulate and control the most powerful figures in Washington was kept.
Gandy was born in Rockville, New Jersey, one of three children (two daughters and a son) born to Franklin Dallas and Annie (née Williams) Gandy. She grew up in New Jersey in Fairton or the Port Norris section of Commercial Township (sources differ) and graduated from Bridgeton High School in Bridgeton New Jersey. In 1918, aged 21, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she later took classes at Strayer Business College and George Washington University Law School.
Gandy briefly worked in a department store in Washington, D.C. before finding a job as a file clerk at the Justice Department in 1918. Within weeks, she went to work as a typist for Hoover, effective March 25, 1918, having told Hoover in her interview she had "no immediate plans to marry." She, like Hoover, would never marry; both were completely devoted to the Bureau.
When Hoover went to the Bureau of Investigation (as it was then known) as its assistant director on August 22, 1921, he specifically requested Gandy return from vacation to help him in the new post. Hoover became director of the Bureau in 1924, and Gandy continued in his service. She was promoted to "office assistant" on August 23, 1937 and "executive assistant" on October 1, 1939. Though she would receive promotions in her civil service grade subsequently, she would retain her title as executive assistant until her retirement on May 2, 1972, the day Hoover died. Hoover said of her: "if there is anyone in this Bureau whose services are indispensable I consider Miss Gandy to be that person." Despite this, Curt Gentry wrote:
...
Wikipedia