All but a handful of the people I knew half a century ago, when for about a decade I served overseas as a CIA agent, are either dead or otherwise absent, and I don’t know a soul who is employed in today’s agency. Despite rumors of deep bureaucratic problems and deeper dissatisfaction in Langley, the profile probably hasn’t changed much since my day. As in the past, the personnel likely are brighter than most, workaholic, patriotic, ambitious, a little too impressed with success in what they suppose is the real world. I hope for their sakes that they don’t drink as much as the old boys used to do.

Also, I suspect that they are doing a better and a more ethical job for our country than most people think or would be willing to believe. And no doubt they are more than a little nervous at the prospect of a new administration, a new director, a new political orthodoxy, and quite possibly, yet another purge.