A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership by James Comey
“A Higher Loyalty” is a surprisingly insightful book on leadership at the highest levels of American government. Former FBI director James Comey provides the readers with his personal experiences from prosecuting the mafia and Martha Stewart to his unexpected firing by President Trump. This candid 293-page book includes the following fourteen chapters: 1. The Life, 2. This Things of Ours, 3. The Bully, 4. Meaning, 5. The Easy Lie, 6. On the Tracks, 7. Confirmation Bias, 8. In Hoover’s Shadow, 9. The Washington Listen, 10. Roadkill, 11. Speak of Conceal, 12. Trump Tower, 13. Tests of Loyalty, and 14. The Cloud.
Positives:
1. A joy to read. A candid, revealing page turner.
2. A fascinating topic treated with utmost respect and care. James Comey is credible and candid.
3. The book has great rhythm, Comey is an excellent storyteller and his characterizations of key players is very compelling.
4. In many respects this book is about the defense of the integrity of the FBI versus Trump’s insistence to mix politics into it and demand loyalty.
5. Many readers most likely will read this book to get the dirt on the current administration but Comey covers many of his important experiences including dealing with the mafia. “But the promises not to kill made guys, bed their wives, or deal dope were lies. Gravano and his fellow Mafia members routinely did all three.”
6. Shares his experiences that led him to decide on a legal career. “Lawyers participate much more directly in the search for justice. That route, I thought, might be the best way to make a difference.”
7. One of the strengths of this book is Comey’s ability to give very credible depictions of the key player of the book. “Rudy’s demeanor left a trail of resentment among the dozens of federal judges in Manhattan, many of whom had worked in that U.S. Attorney’s office. They thought he made the office about one person, himself, and used publicity about his cases as a way to foster his political ambitions rather than doing justice. It was a resentment that was still palpable when I became the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan—and sat in Giuliani’s chair—a dozen years later.”
8. Describes his experiences with bullies and his personal disdain for them. “Those years of bullying added up, minor indignity after indignity, making clear the consequences of power. Harry Howell had power, and he wielded it with compassion and understanding. That wasn’t always easy for him, because he had to deal with a lot of immature kids. Others had power, like the bullies at school, and they found it far easier to wield it against those who were defenseless and to just go along with the group rather than stand up to it.”
9. Does a very good job of describing what drives him. “I carried in my wallet from the age of sixteen a quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.””
10. Describes the people who influenced him. “I HAVE WORKED with great men over the years, but two of my most important teachers about life and leadership were women.”
11. The lies!!! “He who permits to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions. – Thomas Jefferson”
12. Much philosophy shared in this book, here is one of Comey’s favorite analogy. “I would explain that the problem with reservoirs is that they take a very long time to fill but they can be drained by one hole in the dam. The actions of one person can destroy what it took hundreds of people years to build.”
13. Many interesting cases and stories including Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, and Abu Ghraib torture case. “The Bureau had long ago concluded that coercive interrogations were of no utility, the information obtained largely useless or unreliable. Instead, over decades, the FBI had perfected the art of “rapport-building interrogation”—forming a trusting relationship with those in its custody.”
14. Interesting interactions with people at the highest levels. “Mueller and I were not particularly close and had never seen each other outside of work, but I knew Bob understood and respected our legal position and cared deeply about the rule of law. His whole life was about doing things the right way. When I told him what was happening, he said he would be there immediately.”
15. Insights into the FBI. “They helped me rewrite the organization’s mission statement to match what was already written on their hearts: they exist to “protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”
16. Much of this book revolves around leadership. “We would teach that great leaders are (1) people of integrity and decency; (2) confident enough to be humble; (3) both kind and tough; (4) transparent; and (5) aware that we all seek meaning in work. We would also teach them that (6) what they say is important, but what they do is far more important, because their people are always watching them. In short, we would demand and develop ethical leaders.”
17. Some revealing admissions. “First, I said, we in law enforcement need to acknowledge the truth that we have long been the enforcers of a status quo in America that abused black people; we need to acknowledge our history because the people we serve and protect cannot forget it. Second, we all need to acknowledge that we carry implicit biases inside us, and if we aren’t careful, they can lead to assumptions and injustice. Third, something can happen to people in law enforcement who must respond to incidents resulting in the arrest of so many young men of color; it can warp perspectives and lead to cynicism. Finally, I said, we all must acknowledge that the police are not the root cause of the most challenging problems in our country’s worst neighborhoods, but that the actual causes and solutions are so hard that it is easier to talk only about the police.”
18. Great respect and admiration for President Obama. “And this is where Barack Obama surprised me yet again. He was an extraordinary listener, as good as any I’ve seen in leadership.”
19. A fascinating look at that whole email situation with Hillary Clinton, a really telling chapter in the book. “The facts of the case were straightforward: Hillary Clinton had used her personal email system, on a server and with an email address that was entirely of her own creation, to conduct her work as secretary of state.” “In Secretary Clinton’s case, the answer to the first question—was classified information mishandled?—was obviously “yes.””
20. The case against Petraeus. “I argued strongly to Attorney General Holder that Petraeus also should be charged with a felony for lying to the Bureau. Replaying in my mind the Martha Stewart, Leonidas Young, and Scooter Libby cases, I argued that if we weren’t going to hold retired generals and CIA directors accountable for blatantly lying during investigations, how could we justify jailing thousands of others for doing the same thing?”
21. Trump, Trump, Trump. “The four agencies had joined in the assessment, which was both stunning and straightforward: Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an extensive effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. That effort, which came through cyber activity, social media, and Russian state media, had a variety of goals: undermining public faith in the American democratic process, denigrating Hillary Clinton and harming her electability and potential presidency, and helping Donald Trump get elected.” “I suddenly had the feeling that, in the blink of an eye, the president-elect was trying to make us all part of the same family and that Team Trump had made it a “thing of ours.” For my entire career, intelligence was a thing of mine and political spin a thing of yours. Team Trump wanted to change that.”
22. The firing. “Donald Trump’s presidency threatens much of what is good in this nation. We all bear responsibility for the deeply flawed choices put before voters during the 2016 election, and our country is paying a high price: this president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven, and about personal loyalty.”
Negatives:
1. No supplementary material. I would have liked a timeline, charts or diagrams.
2. There is no doubt that Comey was restrained but he certainly made the best of it.
3. Some readers will be disappointed that most of the book is not about Trump. That said, he builds an interesting momentum toward Trump.
In summary, an excellent and credible account of Comey’s experiences at the highest levels of government. Comey cleverly shares his personal experiences while building a compelling case of what leadership is and why Trump does not meet such standards. He is defender of the integrity of the FBI and exposes the lies and conflicts brought upon by Trump’s administration. A must read!
Further suggestions: “Fire and Fury” by Michael Wolff, “Trumpocracy” by David Frum, “What Happened “ by Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America” by Cass R. Sunstein, “Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire” by Kurt Andersen, “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” by David Cay Johnston, and “How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky.
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He reminds me of Jimmy Carter...
Inspiring. Can I just say that with all the many expectations I brought to the reading of this book, being inspired was not one of them. Yet, here I am. Inspired.I vehemently disliked James Comey over the Hillary Clinton email debacle. Now I realize that I was unfair. I didn’t know the truth. I didn’t know all the facts. I try so hard to always look at things from other viewpoints. I failed. I thought myself righteous in my outrage. Truly, James Comey chose the only honorable path. It was a terrible path, but it was the least worst option.We, the American public, we are the culpable ones. We are the ones who chose the people who were running for President. We are responsible for not putting Hillary in office. We are the ones who chose not to re-elect Jimmy Carter because he was too good of a man and too kind of a man. Well, not me personally. I was a child then. Carter was judged as weak when really what he was was ethical.Ethical. Good. Kind. What has happened to us that we’re at each other’s throats. People clamor for what is best for them with no thought of what’s best for America. We are America. All of us. Kindness and goodness are not weakness.I digress. The book will take you through a teenager trying to avoid being murdered, a mafia boss in court, pasta made by a serial killer, the truth about Hillary’s emails, and what happened with Trump.There’s no smoke and mirrors. Just the truth. My God, it’s refreshing to just read a book that’s honest. How do I know the book is honest? I can feel the truth ringing from sentence to sentence. This is how the Liberty Bell sounds in my head.This man. James Comey. This man I so unfairly blamed for Hillary losing the election. This man is good and kind and ethical and smart AND he laughs. This man. James Comey. This man would make a good POTUS. I know everyone is going to say that his character has been so besmirched in the media that there’s no coming back from that. I bet someone with a mind like Hamilton Jordan could get him elected. We need someone who doesn’t want the job. An ethical person who will help us make better laws rather than caring if he/she is re-elected. If Elizabeth Warren won’t run, then perhaps James Comey should.By the way, if James Comey happens to be reading this... the problem with privacy and Apple, Google, etc... You’re missing a piece. You saw the lines arcing away from each other leading to increased murder rates in cities. Well, the privacy problem is also lines arcing away from each other. Whatever one’s opinion of Snowden, he did let the American people know they were unfairly and unconstitutionally being spied on by our own government. It’s wrong to pull data from innocent people’s emails. If someone is suspicious, get a court order like the FBI. There is no freedom of speech if everyone’s emails or texts are being scanned by a branch of the government that is supposed to protect us. The desire for privacy isn’t a sign of wrongdoing despite how some twist it into that as an argument. I’m not doing anything wrong when I go to the bathroom, but I still want a door! Imagine if Hitler had been able to scan the texts and emails of his citizens. Absolute power corrupts.Apple, Google, etc have responded by making our data inviolable because of the outcry of the American people. Our freedom of speech is compromised if as an innocent citizen every word we write is scanned as a matter of course. 1984 is not a democracy. As consumers, our spending allows us to have a voice. We demanded the right to privacy from Apple, Google, etc, because we found that we were not getting it from our government.Take us back to the land of the free. Equality. Ethical goodness. Kindness. Gain our trust. If the government can be trusted to only get data with a court order AND that was actually the TRUTH, then people wouldn’t clamor for privacy from companies.Just my two cents, of course. I love this country. I think we have the best county in the whole damn universe. We’ve got some work to do on balancing safety with civil rights and constitutional freedoms. We also have some work to do in learning how to care about each other.I was a kid when the hostages were taken in Iran during Carter’s presidency. Know what I remember?? Yellow ribbons on trees. Everywhere. Remember that? The song? “Tie a yellow ribbon round the ole oak tree.” I saw yellow ribbons tied around oak trees everywhere. I had a hard childhood- was molested for a decade. Those yellow ribbons. They brought tears to my eyes. Each time I saw one, I could feel how the people in America were a community filled with a lot of love and light. I could feel the goodness in people and sustain the belief that, despite my own experience, most people are inherently good. I still believe that.We need love and light back. Maybe we should start tying yellow ribbons on trees again to remind each other that America is still one community where we love, share, and support each other.
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