Characteristics Of Responsible Administration

Introduction In assessing All the Presidents Men in relation to the characteristics that responsible administrators should have, I think you have to look at the culture of the times. It was the early 1970’s and the Vietnam War was nearing an end. It was a time of turmoil for the country along with a climate of anti-government cynicism by the younger generation of citizens. Beginning with JFK’s administration and into Lyndon Johnson’s term, government had grown exponentially. Because of this growth, government accountability was harder to track, and the ethical climate of the times was extremely loose, causing an erosion of administrative ethics by government employees. The movie concerns the Watergate Scandal and President Nixon’s directives in covering up his administrations attempts in spying on the democratic party’s candidate and run for the office of the president of the United States. The movie demonstrates Nixon’s unethical behavior which in turn reflected how his administrators managed their government agencies. Nixon’s unethical reasoning in regards to his obligations to the American people created a culture that was reflected in the movie and displayed a complete lack of regard for ethical behavior and maintaining responsible conduct for the employees. In understanding responsible conduct in public service, you have to understand that it is a dynamic process that begins with the top administrator establishing the organizational culture. In this