By contrast, Clarence knew that he had earned his way into those prestigious places. But he was seen and sneered at openly and quietly as being an affirmative action baby. Understandably this leaves a bad taste in his mouth for affirmative action. It has also cost him much respect among blacks in America. They point the finger at his success and say that all his accomplishments a direct result of set asides and racial preference. This is the crux of his anger at affirmative action and his debates against it.

Education is clearly a forte of Clarence, the golden spike in his helmet. Here is a highly educated man, brilliant in fact. But with a Yale Law degree he could not get the job he wanted. No one in white corporate America came knocking on his door. Instead of working in corporate America, he was soon recognized by prominent GOP members. He was appointed chairman of the EEOC. There he cleans house and the great backlog of cases, twice appointed and serves for eight years. According to his memoirs he also balances its budget.  

The office of the EEOC was ironically the place where a woman named Anita M. Hill worked under him. He hired her at the urging of his Yale roommate Gilbert Hardy, who died unfortunately, in a diving accident, just before Clarence was to endure the confirmation hearings. According to Thomas, Hill's work is mediocre then and now. She is no stellar student or a meticulous lawyer. He hires her as a favor, period.  It is clear that he kicks himself more than once for this “mistake.”  In his memoirs he writes that he was also responsible for helping Condolezza Rice and Colin Powell to find a place in politics and the White House.

His tenure at EEOC leads to the appointment to Washington D.C. Court of Appeals by Bush ’41, considered a stepping stone to the Supreme Court.

The last two chapters or so concern his thoughts and trial by fire at the actions taken by Anita Hill. I believed Thomas’ shock and pain at Miss Hill’s claims. Doubt did creep into my thoughts: he was a single man during this time period or at least long-separated from his first wife. Did he never consider dating Miss Hill? He asks the reader to believe that there was absolutely no physical or emotional attraction between the two who had worked together for years, and were both single people.