On r/History there is a trending thread about the Osage people and the book "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.”
The thread links a PBS article which talks about the events, and in the article it mentions that J. Edgar Hoover was made head of the FBI at 29 years old.
How was it that Hoover became looked at, and ultimately tapped on the shoulder for, this position, at such an early age? I imagine he was a big proponent for a federal bureau, but I would have thought his age would preclude his consideration.
For example 29 would be the equivalent age of a Captain in the U.S. Army today—whereas I would expect someone at least ten years older, a Major or higher rank, to be considered a more appropriate candidate to head an entire federal agency—even an infantile one.
There's always more to add, but /u/mikedash wrote a post about Hoover's early rise to power here: It took J Edgar Hoover just two years to go from a legal clerkship to a division head. What did he do his first two years of law enforcement to stand out?