The hearing lasted around 4 and a half hours and went about as well as Christopher Wray could have hoped.

Democrats ended the hearing by expressing their support, likely ensuring his confirmation to the post. Throughout the session he repeated a commitment to remaining independent and walking away if he felt pressured to do anything inappropriate.

Mr. Wray had some memorable lines at the hearing, including saying that he would never promise loyalty to the President, as former FBI Director James Comey testified he had been asked to do.

“No one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath...I sure as heck didn’t offer one,” he said.

Another key exchange came in Mr. Wray’s interactions with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), who was the first to dive into the controversy over Donald Trump Jr.’s emails that show him eager to discuss possible campaign help from the Russian government.

Mr. Wray said he hadn’t had a chance to review the emails, but said he thought it “wise” for anyone on a campaign to contact the FBI if contacted by a foreign government with potential dirt on an opponent.

“You’re going to be the director of the FBI, pal,” Mr. Graham pressed him, eliciting from Mr. Wray the response, “To the members of this committee: any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation state...is the kind of thing the FBI would want to know.”

Once confirmed, Mr. Wray will have a hard job ahead of him -- steering the FBI away from the political maelstrom that has engulfed it for the past year and earning the trust of the agents stunned by Mr. Comey’s May ouster from the job.