海角大神

The FBI released its on Thursday. Well, maybe 鈥渇ile鈥� overstates the case 鈥� the bureau made public documents related to a background check of Mr. Jobs conducted in 1991, when President George H. W. Bush was considering him for a post on the President鈥檚 Export Council.

The dossier contains basic biographical information, interviews with friends and associates, and a check of his legal and financial record. Many people the FBI talked with praised him as visionary leader and strong personality. Others, not so much.

His abrasive style obviously made him some enemies. One woman said that Jobs鈥檚 initial success at Apple Computer provided him an enormous amount of power 鈥渂ut also at times caused him to lose sight of honor and integrity and even caused him to distort the truth at times to get his way.鈥�

Having read all 191 pages of the file, here鈥檚 our quick reactions as to its contents:

THE NEIGHBORS LOVED HIM. Yes, the G-men went door to door in Mr. Jobs鈥檚 neighborhoods, asking whoever answered about that thin, intense guy who lived down the street. His immediate next-door neighbor in Silicon Valley in 1991 loved him, saying he was a 鈥渜uiet and unassuming鈥� individual who 鈥渘ever caused any problems鈥� and who had even visited her last week 鈥渢o ensure that some landscaping he was having done would not cause any problems with her and her husband.鈥�

Such a nice boy! The FBI did not mention whether he baked her brownies.

Another neighbor said he 鈥渟eemed to be a nice enough person,鈥� while a third said they鈥檇 had Jobs over to dinner and that he was a vegetarian who neither smoked nor drank 鈥渁nd did a great deal of jogging.鈥� Yet another said she was English and didn鈥檛 think she should comment on whether he was fit to work with the US government.

THE PAST IS ANOTHER COUNTRY. Jobs鈥檚 FBI file is also a window on the late Cold War era, when the interviews involved took place. For one thing, the bureau takes pain to make sure Jobs is not a communist. Jobs had to check 鈥渘o鈥� on a box next to a question about whether he鈥檇 ever been Red or plotted to overthrow the government.

鈥淸Jobs] has no close relatives residing in communist-controlled countries,鈥� says the FBI dossier at one point.

The file also contains more discussion of Jobs鈥檚 youthful indiscretions with controlled substances than might be the case today. Every interviewee appears to have been asked about the computer guru鈥檚 use of drugs and alcohol. All said that they鈥檇 never seen him drink to excess or use drugs, but that he freely talked about experimenting with marijuana, LSD, and so forth when he was young. 鈥淚t was the era,鈥� said one interviewee.

Yes, they were looking for potential weaknesses that would either embarrass the US government or open him up for blackmail. But that鈥檚 less of a sore point today, when the US has Supreme Court justices with drug experimentation in their past.

JACK BAUER MUST HAVE BEEN UNAVAILABLE. The FBI agents who conducted the Jobs research were dogged and thorough. But they did make some simple mistakes. The summary of the personal interview with Jobs, for instance, contains repeated references to Apple鈥檚 鈥淢ackintosh鈥� computer. (It鈥檚 spelled 鈥�Macintosh.鈥�)

Nor did their work move along as smartly as it does on TV and in the movies. The FBI files contain reference after reference to people who are just too busy to talk to them. The president of a university they attempted to contact never bothered even to have his secretary return a message. Jobs himself at one point said he was unavailable for three weeks, not even for one hour.

The overall impression is of a group of mid-level feds working on a project of middling priority. This is reinforced by the doodle of a G-man on a missive from the FBI鈥檚 New Rochelle, N.Y., office, saying 鈥淛ust the fax, man. Nothing but the fax.鈥�

By the way, the bottom line is that the FBI turned up nothing that kept Jobs from serving the US government. According to the Associated Press, Jobs did serve on the export council during the first Bush administration.