25 James Comey Director, FBI Melissa Golden/Redux

You might think it would be a risk for a Democratic president like Barack Obama to appoint a Republican as head of the FBI, but such was James Comey’s reputation that he was an uncontroversial choice. Comey’s been shooting straight ever since, sometimes hitting some pretty big targets (among them Obama’s choice as a successor) as he also helps shape the debate in Washington over privacy.

In July, Comey made some of the biggest news of the 2016 campaign when he personally recommended that the Justice Department file no charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State. He was fully aware how politically fraught his unusual appearance was: “In this case, given the importance of the matter, I think unusual transparency is in order,” he said. Being Comey, the FBI chief also pointedly chastised the Democratic candidate over what he called “extremely careless” use of classified material.

Perhaps Comey’s most consequential fight this year has been over the spiraling debate about government surveillance powers. And here, he has evolved along with the technologies: As a Justice Department official under George W. Bush, Comey helped lead the fight against the National Security Agency’s post-9/11 surveillance programs, but now he’s on the other side, promoting new techniques like facial recognition and fighting an intellectual battle with Apple CEO Tim Cook (No. 26 on the Politico 50) over the social value of encryption. Contra Cook, Comey has emerged as a thoughtful, strong critic of prizing protection of personal space over national security.

For all the dire cast of his warnings about terrorism, the most persuasive aspect of Comey’s argument might be that he so clearly understands the other side. In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in February, Comey conceded that the debate over when and how government can access encrypted devices posed “the hardest question I’ve seen in government.”