Golden Handcuffs - law student reconsiders career in public service - includes response

Washington Monthly, Nov, 1995 by Gibson Cromwell, Charles Peters

I'm not saying that we should abandon our democratic system and turn over every level of government to the technocrats. Presidents should bring in their own people to run the show. One of the secrets of FDR's success was that he was able to hire more than 2 million of his own people. But in order to attract the best and the brightest to government work, there has to be a strong sense that the civil service is not a dead end, that slaving away in the Labor Department would be just as valuable as 10 years at the Brookings Institution or at Skadden, Arps. Presidents and Cabinet officials need to actively seek out bright and qualified civil servants for top posts. And for those law students who never even consider public work--there are plenty, believe me--the government should be actively and vigorously recruiting, getting the word out about the terrific jobs that are there.

As it is now, the voices of prestige and ambition sing in unison to me and my like-minded classmates: Stay away from the government, join a law firm. I doubt you'll see me on Wall Street. But I am also reluctant to join the civil service, and that's the career I'd always dreamt of having.

Charles Peters Responds

First, are you really sure that interesting work in the service of a good cause won't be enough. Do you really need prestige, too? I can assure you that I was happier in each of the four government jobs I held than I was practicing law.

Second, let me also assure you that just because you do not have one of the top appointed or elective positions, doesn't mean you won't have enough power to make a difference. When I was what seemed to be the lowliest of the low--clerk of the Judiciary Committee of the West Virginian legislature--I had more effective power then I had when I was an elected member of the legislature. The reason is that because it was my job to understand the contents of each bill, I was looked on as the source of objective advice on how to vote, an opportunity that I did not shirk--and one that, later, as a member, I did not have to the same degree because I was perceived as less objective.

Later, as head of the Peace Corps evaluation division, I had more effective power in my agency than any member of Congress or even the White House. Of course, they could have had more influence, but the truth is that Washington's big shots usually do not try to participate in the day-to-day operational decisions of an agency. Thus, in 1962 as a GS-14--a rank open to you with a few years experience and which incidentally would pay a non-exactly miserable wage of $62,473 to $81,217--I had more to do with what actually happened at the Peace Corps than any of those "prestigious" officials you yearn to join. I was 34 at the time, but Bill Moyers had even more influence at the Peace Corps, and he was only 26.

One of the saddest experiences of my life has been to watch the friends who had a yen for public life join fancy law firms, hoping that demonstrating ability there would lead to high office. The longer they wait, the higher and more prestigious the office must be in order to compensate for the loss of income. So, by the end, only "Secretary of State" will do. Since that call rarely comes, most of these people are left disappointed as their lives come to a close.