Ethics is Leadership Work; HuffingtonPost.com, 10/31/13

Terry Newell, HuffingtonPost.com; Ethics is Leadership Work: "Haven't our leaders acted unethically before? Isn't some level of unethical behavior part of the job description? Could FDR have led us out of the depression and on to victory in World War II with squeaky-clean ethics? Could Kennedy have gotten us through the Cuban Missile Crisis if he had admitted to a side deal with the Russians to take our missiles out of Turkey? Are national and international affairs really the pristine ethical pastures we'd like to wish them into being? The obvious and historical answer to these questions is "no." But that does not absolve leaders from either thinking carefully about ethics in every situation or setting a very high ethical bar for their appointees as well. When you act unethically towards your enemies, your friends may forgive you if the justification is sound. When you act unethically toward your friends - abroad or at home - who is left to forgive you?"