Bush's values bring governance reminiscent of Nixon era

Chicago Sun-Times: In 2001, I retired from the federal government after 36 years. I worked in every presidential administration from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush. From the Nixon presidency on, my work involved conducting studies of federal agency personnel systems, which gave me insight into the effects of presidential values on the behavior of their appointees and on governance. Early in Bush's tenure, I was surprised to observe that the values-based behavior in this administration seemed more like that the scandal-ridden administration of Richard Nixon rather than the administration of George H.W. Bush, the president's father. More recently, as each day seems to bring a new administration scandal or another, I am reminded about the political appointee behavior that troubled me early in the Bush presidency and wonder if that behavior may have been a signal of scandal to come. The first aspect of the Bush presidency that I noted was the emphasis on secrecy. The best example of this that I personally observed was the administration of the Freedom of Information Act. From the beginning of the presidency and before 9/11, the policy was to release only information required by FOIA. This was in contrast to the Clinton presidency, which released all information except that prohibited by FOIA, but reminiscent of missing and erased tapes in the Nixon administration. The second aspect that I noticed was the attempt to gain partisan control of the bureaucracy. An early example involved the Bush transition team's attempt to obtain the names of all "Democratic" political appointees who had moved competitively into federal positions. While unstated, clearly the intention was to eliminate appointees from previous Democratic administrations who had legitimately obtained positions through the competitive merit system. Fortunately, nonpartisan staff in the Office of Personnel Management eventually persuaded the Bush transition team that this was a bad idea politically since such appointees came from both parties, the number of appointees was small and the legitimacy of the appointments had already been extensively reviewed by both the Office of Personnel Management and the General Accounting Office. Spin control and the elimination of opposing perspectives is the final aspect in my reflections. Two examples come immediately to mind. The first example occurred during the week of Jan. 21, 2001. Almost overnight, every federal government Web site changed. Some changes were substantive (new names), others were style (colors); but all shouted that the Bush administration was different from its predecessor. This first example, while demonstrating how quickly the Internet spin control began, is relatively benign. However, more sinister examples occurred as scientific reports inconsistent with Bush administration perspectives disappeared from government Web sites (e.g., a study on condom use to prevent AIDS from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, and a study verifying the lack of a connection between abortion and breast cancer from the Institute for National Health Web site). There are other examples, but the point of these reflections is about the relationship between values and behavior. Secrecy, partisan control of the bureaucracy and elimination of opposing perspectives are "governance values" -- values that I observed early in the Bush administration and values reminiscent of the troubled Nixon administration. These values, which are at the root of many recent scandals, manifest themselves early in a candidate's political career and pervade the elected official's governance endeavors. In recent elections we have heard a lot about "family values"; however, the focus on family values has not eliminated government scandals. To avoid future scandals, we need to replace the current election spotlight on "family values" with a spotlight on the more pertinent "governance values." After all, while most reports suggest that Saddam Hussein demonstrated strong "family values" in being a faithful husband and a loving father, his governance is what the world found reprehensible.