After Trump, let’s appreciate public service again

President John F. Kennedy’s greatest accomplishment wasn’t what he did. It was what he inspired others to do. His call to “ask what you can do for your country” drew generations of Americans to public service.

That inspiration faded under President Ronald Reagan’s assertion that government is a problem, not a solution, and the mockery of public servants implicit in his line: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

That denigration continued for decades as Republicans in state legislatures and Congress let public service pay fall far below private sector compensation, and it has intensified sharply under President Trump. He has rolled back civil service protections, left a raft of key posts vacant, fired inspectors general and has fed the paranoia that “deep state” bureaucrats have sought to undermine his presidency.

Rising threats

The attacks on public servants have taken a dangerous turn. The nation’s infectious-disease expert, Anthony Fauci, has faced death threats, the FBI broke up a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, state election officials are accused of presiding over rigged elections and public employees doing the democratic work of counting votes felt threatened by pro-Trump protesters.

Where Kennedy sought to draw the best and the brightest into government service, talented young people now are balking at government jobs and many of the best public employees are leaving or nearing retirement. Finding committed, even inspired workers is becoming a major problem at the federal and state levels.

Last week, Politico reported that Joe Biden’s transition team is worried about a federal staffing crisis. Trump’s appointment of officials hostile to the missions of their agencies has led to waves of departures by government employees and a loss of experience and expertise.

In North Carolina, a state Human Resources Department manager recently told lawmakers that it now takes an average of 190 days to fill a state government job, mostly because of low pay and the erosion of once appealing state benefits.

Bruce Jentleson, a professor at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, said he sees more students who want to help society considering work for nonprofit organizations rather than the government.

“Fundamentally, government is about human capital at every level and we really need younger people to see public service as important,” he said. “What (Trump) has done has just been a huge slap against it.”

Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University, said, “The real damage under Trump has been to corrode interest in government among the nation’s best and brightest. If you break interest in government, you steadily erode the government’s ability to deliver on the promises we make.”

Light said Trump’s dimming of the appeal of public service has been dramatic, but the problem was there before him. He said President Jimmy Carter was the last president to reform the civil service and enhance government employment. In the late 1980s, he said, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker led a blue ribbon commission that sought to address the loss of talented federal employees, a situation then described as a “quiet crisis.”

“Thirty years later, you could write the same report,” Light said, “except it isn’t quiet anymore. It’s screaming.”

Renew respect

President-elect Joe Biden’s long career in Washington is an exemplar of public service. His presence in the White House will help restore respect for dedicating one’s life to that work. But a widespread and lasting reversal of the bashing of government employment will not come until the spirit of Kennedy’s call returns.

Reagan was wrong. The government is not the problem. In a democracy, the government is us. Once again there should be a good reward and a renewed respect for those in positions high and low who give their time, talent and energies to serve their country by serving its citizens.

This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 1:39 PM with the headline "After Trump, let’s appreciate public service again."