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Ethics Laws and Difficult Family Predicaments
Sunday, September 28th, 2008
Robert Wechsler
Sometimes it's very difficult for a government official to deal with a
conflict of interest involving a member of his or her immediate family.
The common approach to ethics is to assume that an official will favor
a family member, but sometimes an ethics law can take an official out
of the uncomfortable position of having to reject a family member. And
sometimes the situation with a family member can have elements of both.
In an op-ed piece in today's New York Times, John S. D. Eisenhower, son of the president, came out strongly against allowing any president's or vice-president's child to be assigned to duty in a combat zone.
As it happens, he is the only living example of this, but sons of both vice-presidential candidates are due to be sent to Iraq, and he feels that this decision should be taken out of the hands of both sons and parents, and be decided by the Secretary of Defense or someone neutral and of equivalent stature.
Unfortunately, it is a feather in a candidate's cap to be able to say that his or her child will be serving in Iraq. What could be more patriotic? What could better show one's willingness to sacrifice for the sake of our nation's security?
One thing would be to consider the consequences of this personal sacrifice on others, including oneself. Would it make it more likely that a unit would be attacked, so that the vice-presidential child could be held for ransom and bring great publicity to a terrorist cause? Eisenhower thinks so. And then what? President Eisenhower made his son promise to kill himself rather than let himself be captured, saying that if the North Koreans or Chinese were to use his son for blackmail purposes, President Eisenhower would be forced to resign.
It is hard for a vice-president, recognizing the consequences, to ask his or her child to refuse service in Iraq, when this would bring the child great disrespect and would make the vice-president seem to be favoring his or her child. The vice-president should not be placed in this position.
Nor should a mayor be placed in the position of telling his daughter not to invest in a development project or rejecting the project due to its consequences, which he feels are harmful. Ethics laws do not only prevent unethical conduct; they also help officials to get out of making decisions where the public interest conflicts with the interest of family, friends, and business associates, and where they lean toward the public interest. Ethics laws are there to project all sorts of public officials.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
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In an op-ed piece in today's New York Times, John S. D. Eisenhower, son of the president, came out strongly against allowing any president's or vice-president's child to be assigned to duty in a combat zone.
As it happens, he is the only living example of this, but sons of both vice-presidential candidates are due to be sent to Iraq, and he feels that this decision should be taken out of the hands of both sons and parents, and be decided by the Secretary of Defense or someone neutral and of equivalent stature.
Unfortunately, it is a feather in a candidate's cap to be able to say that his or her child will be serving in Iraq. What could be more patriotic? What could better show one's willingness to sacrifice for the sake of our nation's security?
One thing would be to consider the consequences of this personal sacrifice on others, including oneself. Would it make it more likely that a unit would be attacked, so that the vice-presidential child could be held for ransom and bring great publicity to a terrorist cause? Eisenhower thinks so. And then what? President Eisenhower made his son promise to kill himself rather than let himself be captured, saying that if the North Koreans or Chinese were to use his son for blackmail purposes, President Eisenhower would be forced to resign.
It is hard for a vice-president, recognizing the consequences, to ask his or her child to refuse service in Iraq, when this would bring the child great disrespect and would make the vice-president seem to be favoring his or her child. The vice-president should not be placed in this position.
Nor should a mayor be placed in the position of telling his daughter not to invest in a development project or rejecting the project due to its consequences, which he feels are harmful. Ethics laws do not only prevent unethical conduct; they also help officials to get out of making decisions where the public interest conflicts with the interest of family, friends, and business associates, and where they lean toward the public interest. Ethics laws are there to project all sorts of public officials.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
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