Lessons on integrity in politics

BY EGIL KROGH

Nearly everyone knows about the US subprime mortgage crisis and allegations of fraudulent behavior. More recently, three Americans have been indicted in a scheme to rig contracts with US military units overseas. And a former trader at the Société Générale in France has also skated on thin ethical ice.

With those and many other situations in mind, the Sentinel asked Egil "Bud" Krogh, whose book (co-authored with his son, Matthew) Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House, details the breakdown in integrity and ethics that ultimately led to the now infamous break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC.

When you're appointed to a position at higher levels of government, the document that represents your commission opens with this statement: "Reposing special trust in your integrity, prudence, ability, I do appoint you . . " — and then goes on to describe the position to which one is appointed. My own integrity was tested in the White House while I was Deputy Counsel to then-President Nixon, and appointed to co-chair the "Plumbers," a team tasked with discrediting Dr. Daniel Ellsberg. He was an antiwar activist who released classified documents about the US Vietnam War strategy to two major newspapers. We were also supposed to track down any other "leaks" of classified documents. But in carrying out our assignment, we broke the law.

About the author

After serving prision time, Bud Krogh spent five years teaching graduate school and rebuilding his record of integrity. In 1980 he was readmitted to the bar in Washington State. He currently practices law, teaches, and trains others based on what he learned through his experiences.

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