December 1, 2005: Headlines: Staff: Speaking Out: Politics: Political Appointees: Washington Monthly: Charles Peters writes: There is nothing wrong with political appointees

Peace Corps Online: Directory: USA: Special Report: Charlie Peters, Head of the Evaluation Division: February 9, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Staffer Charlie Peters : December 1, 2005: Headlines: Staff: Speaking Out: Politics: Political Appointees: Washington Monthly: Charles Peters writes: There is nothing wrong with political appointees

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Charles Peters writes: There is nothing wrong with political appointees

Charles Peters writes: There is nothing wrong with political appointees

"There is nothing wrong with political appointees who have the ability to do the job. Their dedication to implementing their president's policies may even make them preferable to civil servants who are indifferent to these policies. But there's a great big 'if' to all this. The 'if is if the president and his policies are wise and good. That is why we have to care about whom we elect. If you elect a Franklin Roosevelt, you're going to get able appointees. If you elect George W Bush, you're going to get Michael Brown."

Charles Peters was Director of Evaluation for the Peace Corps under founding Director Sargent Shriver.


Charles Peters writes: There is nothing wrong with political appointees

The case against the case against political appointees

For reasons that will quickly become understandable, I have been uncomfortable with all the condemnation of political appointees that has followed in the wake of Katrina. You see, I was once a political appointee myself. I was brought to Washington because I had managed John Kennedy's campaign in my West Virginia county in 1960.

I went to work for a political appointee, Sargent Shriver, who turned out to be a great leader of the Peace Corps. He, however, was skeptical about other political appointees, and he didn't know me, so I was given a job-called "Consultant to the General Counsel"-in which my capacity for doing any harm was modest indeed. I felt embarrassed that I was "political." I eagerly volunteered for assignments that would give me a chance to prove that I wasn't a hack but had some ability, and that I was as dedicated as my colleagues to the mission of my agency.

The general atmosphere at the agency was so free of partisanship that I recall one day Shriver and Bill Movers danced into my office with joy as they celebrated having recruited an outstanding Republican, William Saltonstall, to head the Peace Corps in Nigeria. I did not put my inscribed photograph from John Kennedy on my office wall until after the assassination. Of course, most of us were devoted to Kennedy, but we were convinced that we could best serve him by making the Peace Corps an agency the country could be proud of.

What this means to me is that there is nothing wrong with political appointees who have the ability to do the job. Their dedication to implementing their president's policies may even make them preferable to civil servants who are indifferent to these policies. But there's a great big 'if' to all this.

The 'if is if the president and his policies are wise and good. That is why we have to care about whom we elect. If you elect a Franklin Roosevelt, you're going to get able appointees. If you elect George W Bush, you're going to get Michael Brown.





When this story was posted in January 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


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Story Source: Washington Monthly

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Staff; Speaking Out; Politics; Political Appointees

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