A Higher Loyalty by James Comey was released on April 17th. I preordered my copy through Amazon and they delivered it on the 17th. I had ‘cleared the decks’ in terms of my reading schedule and dove right in, finishing the book in a week.
A couple of comments right up front. First, Donald Trump is the best book salesman in the world. With his tweets, threats and complaining, he helped Michael Wolff sell millions of copies of Fire and Fury. Now, James Comey is selling A Higher Loyalty faster than Fire and Fury’s furious pace. Who says books are dead?
Other Reviews
The second comment is about the reviews of this book that I have seen in the press. These reviews would have you believe that Comey’s book is all about the Comey/Trump feuds. At least that is the focus of the reviews I have seen. It isn’t at all. The book is made up of fourteen chapters with only the last three chapters dealing with Trump issues. The other eleven chapters, up to page 211, have been called a memoir. It seems like an autobiography to me. In any case, it is the story of his life, told by him, and it is quite an interesting story.
The First Eleven Chapters
Comey grew up in an ordinary middle-class family. But he had some experiences that were formative. First was the fact that he was bullied in junior and senior high school, which made him want to do work to stop bullies and their victims. Comey is now 6 feet 8 inches, but he got his growth spurt after high school.
The second came when he was a senior in high school. He and his younger brother were home alone when their house was broken into. A nearby town was being terrorized by the Ramsey Rapist. This guy held the two boys at gunpoint and they were sure they were going to be killed. That will make an impression.
He worked in a grocery store in high school (something I also did) and learned a lot from the store manager, who happened to be a great leader. He started college intending to be a doctor but switched to law school because he wanted to help protect those not able to protect themselves.
As a lawyer, he worked mostly for the government but also spent some time in private practice. In the 1980s he was on the team in New York City that managed to break the Mafia. He also worked on the Whitewater investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton and was responsible for the prosecution of Martha Stewart for insider trading.
Comey worked in the Justice Department during the George W. Bush administration. So he has worked with the last four administrations. Keep in mind that he is a registered Republican and voted for the Republican candidates through 2012. I say keep that in mind because his views on our recent presidents are interesting.
He doesn’t have much good to say about the Clintons. He liked George W. Bush personally but didn’t find him competent. He thought Dick Cheney was evil. Despite not voting for Obama, he is lavish in his praise for Obama. In fact, Obama is the only president he reviews favorably. Of course, he thinks Trump is in a league of his own.
In 2013, he was appointed to a ten-year term as Director of the FBI. His observations on what makes a great leader could be used for any organization. He also was working on changing the culture of the FBI when he was fired.
The Last Three Chapters
Of the last three chapters, the topics are more current and better known. One chapter deals mostly with the Clinton email saga and the FBI’s on-again, off-again investigation and Comey’s announcements in the run up to the election.
Another chapter deals with Russian involvement in the 2016 election, something the various investigative agencies were well aware of and were monitoring. This includes meetings at Trump Tower after the election and before the Inauguration.
The final chapter deals with early days of the Trump administration, the Russian investigation and almost brings us up to the present.
Of course, at this point, we don’t know how the story ends. I really enjoyed the book but the first eleven chapters were what I enjoyed the most. Comey had led an interesting life and it makes a great story even if we don’t know the final chapter of that story.
Again, I have several pages of reading notes if you’d prefer those to reading the whole book. Just ask and I’d be happy to email them to you.
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