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Some Administration officials, following the Reagan ethos of privatizing the public sector, treated their Government jobs as private fiefs. At least Emanuel Savas, an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, preached what he practiced: he used his agency staff to type and proofread a commercial book of his titled, aptly enough, Privatizing the Public Sector. Some officials, having made financial sacrifices to go into Government, evidently felt entitled to recoup as much as possible. C. McClain Haddow, former chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services, was indicted last month for fraudulently obtaining $33,540 from the "T. Bear Foundation," which he helped create to encourage children to wash their hands.
In a tradition as old as the Republic, some officials regarded Government service as a splendid opportunity to reward friends and punish enemies. Victor Thompson, president of the Synthetic Fuels Corp., resigned after disclosures that he had sought help for his private bank from a Texas oilman who was doing business with the Government corporation.
Some former officials, following another time-honored tradition, apparently saw Government service as a stepping-stone to later affluence. Michael Deaver, Lyn Nofziger and Richard Allen were able to trade in their Government contacts for lucrative consulting businesses. Both Nofziger and Deaver have come under investigation for allegedly violating the Ethics in Government Act by lobbying their former employers too soon after leaving the Administration; Deaver has been indicted for perjury.
For some Reaganites, almost any action in pursuit of the President's vision was justified; for them, it was not a Government of laws, but of one man. Oliver North, for one, did not seem willing to let anything, even Congress, stand in the way of serving his Commander in Chief.
Other officials, who performed capably and honestly in office, were capsized by matters they had been involved in before taking office. J. Lynn Helms, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, resigned after it was disclosed that grand juries and federal agencies were probing some of his past business ventures. Max Hugel, deputy director for operations at the CIA, quit after allegations by two stockbrokers of improper securities dealings.
Although resigning under fire can shatter a life, a number of Reagan appointees have prospered, their alleged transgressions being considered an occupational hazard in a dirty business. Richard Allen, who resigned amid reports that he had received a $1,000 "honorarium" from a Japanese journalist after setting up an interview with the First Lady, has a plethora of Japanese and Taiwanese clients for his Washington consulting business.
For most, however, leaving office under a cloud shadows all their days. Deaver has seen his staff of 18 wither to a secretary, a bookkeeper and an aide. He has shuttered his glossy offices in Washington and put his fancy furniture in storage.