The 2024 election cycle is on us, or maybe it’s running over us. There is a good deal of writing by and about current and former federal employees, including the current and former presidents. This is a good time to ask and answer a relevant question: Is the President of America an “employee” of the federal government?

Yes, said the White House in  2021. “The power of the Executive Branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the federal agencies, including the Cabinet. The Vice President is also part of the Executive Branch, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise. . . The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.”[1]

Both President Biden and former President Trump are subject to the “Executive Branch Standards of Ethical Conduct.”[2] They are federally mandated to adhere to the following “Principles of Ethical Conduct.”[3]

  • Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain. 
  • Employees shall not hold financial interests that conflict with the conscientious performance of duty. 
  • Employees shall not engage in financial transactions using nonpublic Government information or allow the improper use of this information to further any private interest. 
  • An employee shall not, except pursuant to the exceptions in subpart B, solicit or accept any gift or other item of monetary value from any person or entity seeking official action from, doing business with, or conducting activities regulated by the employee’s agency, or whose interests may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the employee’s duties. 
  • Employees shall put forth honest effort in the performance of their duties. 
  • Employees shall make no unauthorized commitments or promises of any kind purporting to bind the Government. 
  • Employees shall not use public office for private gain. 
  • Employees shall act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual. 
  • Employees shall protect and conserve Federal property and shall not use it for other than authorized activities. 
  • Employees shall not engage in outside employment or activities, including seeking or negotiating for employment, where there is a conflict with official Government duties and responsibilities. 
  • Employees shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities. 
  • Employees shall satisfy in good faith their obligations as citizens, including all just financial obligations, especially those such as Federal, state, and local taxes, that are imposed by law. 
  • Employees shall adhere to all laws and regulations that provide equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap. 
  • Employees shall endeavor to avoid any actions creating the appearance that they are violating the law or these Standards of Ethical Conduct.

Ethical conduct literally means simply doing the right thing, but in reality, it means more. It involves acting in the right spirit, out of abiding respect and concern for one’s fellow creatures.[4] Assessing someone for how ethical they are is a judgment call and is often debatable. Polls are often used in assessing ethical compliance. Gallup News is a global analytics and advisory firm that covers public opinion. On September 13. 2018, it headlined its analytic findings: “Trump Rated Worse Than Other Modern-Day Presidents on Ethics.”

“A majority of Americans say President Donald Trump’s ethical standards are lower than those of each of six U.S. presidents elected in the past 50 years. Less than half say Trump’s ethics are lower than Richard Nixon’s, but the 43% saying this still outweighs the 37% who say Trump’s ethics are higher than Nixon’s.

  • Bar charts showing the public’s views of Trump’s ethical standards as lower than the last seven elected U.S. presidents.
  • The Sept. 3-9 Gallup poll asked how Trump’s ethical standards compare with those of seven of his eight predecessors. Trump fares worst in relation to Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, George H.W., and George W. Bush, each of whom has a greater-than 2-to-1 advantage over Trump in perceptions of having higher vs. lower ethics. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have smaller, but still sizable, advantages over Trump in the public’s perceptions of their ethical standards. Nixon is the closest to being on par with Trump.
  • Nixon, who was charged with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress as a result of his involvement in the Watergate scandal, is the only U.S. president to resign from office, which he did in 1974, before his expected impeachment. Clinton was impeached in 1998 on the grounds of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from his extramarital affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, but he was acquitted when his case went to trial in the Senate.
  • Similar percentages of Americans think Trump’s ethical standards are higher than Clinton’s and Nixon’s. However, significantly more say Trump’s ethics are below Clinton’s than below Nixon’s. This is accounted for by higher percentages saying Trump’s ethics are the same as Nixon’s, or who are unsure.
  • Gallup asked this question about Clinton in 1997, before the revelations about his involvement with Lewinsky but during the investigation into the Whitewater real estate matter. Respondents at that time were asked to compare Clinton’s ethics with those of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. Majorities said Clinton’s ethical standards were lower than Carter’s, Reagan’s, and the elder Bush’s, but Clinton was viewed as more ethical than Nixon, albeit by less than half of Americans.”[5]

On August 3, 2023, Gallup headlined its ethical compliance review of President Joe Biden’s ethics. “Majority in U.S. Say Biden Administration Ethics Are Subpar.”[6]

  • Americans rate the ethics of “top Biden administration officials” more negatively than positively in Gallup’s first measure of this assessment since President Joe Biden took office. Just over four in 10 say these officials’ ethical standards are excellent (8%) or good (34%), whereas the majority see them as “not good” (18%) or poor (37%).
  • The Biden administration’s 42% ethics score is just above the 37% and 38% figures recorded during Donald Trump’s administration. However, it is lower than the scores for all other presidential administrations since Ronald Reagan, which range from 50% to 74%.
  • As Gallup has noted previously, this question has been asked fairly infrequently, and thus not all aspects of a president’s tenure are captured in the trend the way they are by presidential job approval. Of particular note, the only ratings during Reagan’s presidency predated the Iran-Contra affair in his second term that exposed controversial covert military operations undertaken by several of Reagan’s senior appointees.
  • With that caveat, it’s notable that Biden and Trump are the only presidents whose administrations’ ethics have received more negative than positive reviews. Before now, the worst result was a tie, seen for Barack Obama’s administration in 2013 and George W. Bush’s in late 2005.
  • The 42% ethics rating for Biden’s officials nearly matches Biden’s 40% job approval score in the same poll, conducted July 3-27. Such consistency between the two metrics has been common in the past three administrations, spanning Obama, Trump, and Biden. Before that, Americans typically made more of a distinction between these dimensions of presidential performance, with administration ethics ratings usually exceeding presidential job approval by at least five percentage points.
  • Consistent partisan ratings across different measures are a hallmark of political polarization, with the president’s own party tending to rate him positively in every respect, while members of the opposing party rate him negatively. This is evident in the current poll, in which 84% of Democrats versus only 6% of Republicans say the ethics of top Biden administration officials are excellent or good.
  • Cross-party support has been steadily dwindling on this measure from a relatively generous assessment in 1994, partly explaining Biden’s and Trump’s low ratings.
  • 11% of Democrats rated the Trump administration’s ethics positively during 2018. 19% of Republicans rated the Obama administration’s ethics positively in 2013. 27% of Democrats rated the George W. Bush administration positively during 2005. A third of Republicans rated the Clinton administration positively in 1994. Meanwhile, in each case, positive ratings from the president’s own party group have been fairly constant, with most in the 81% to 86% range. Trump’s record-low 2018 ratings can be attributed to below-average reviews from Republicans as well as independents, in addition to the minimal support from Democrats.
  • This pattern of partisans becoming increasingly reluctant to praise the ethics of presidential administrations from the opposing party mirrors the increased partisanship over the years in presidential job approval.
  • Bottom Line: Biden started his presidency by signing an executive order on ethics, committing his administration to certain high standards in doing the public’s business, and avoiding personal conflicts of interest. Democrats’ high positive ratings of Biden administration ethics indicate the president’s own party members believe he has fulfilled this pledge. Republicans’ extremely low ratings suggest they do not. While this may be somewhat automatic in today’s politically polarized environment, Republicans’ extraordinarily low confidence in Biden administration ethics could also be connected to IRS whistleblower claims about FBI and Justice Department favoritism toward the president’s son, Hunter Biden, in their investigations of him for federal corruption, as well as tax and gun crimes.
  • As is typical, independents’ ratings fall in between those of the two major parties, largely reflecting the mix of Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning individuals constituting much of this group.[7]

One way to look at the disparity and sad state of affairs at the presidential level is through the lens of consensus as a political ideal. Public consensus, agreement, and concurrence of thought are not a priority in political ethics. Honesty, truth, and social justice are not part of the consensus that drives election to public office. We often hear national officeholders described in terms of “good person” or “well-liked.” But there is no consistency that they are “ethical.” Perhaps that term is simply assumed in calling a politician a “good” person. “Good” in a political context too often means they won. Winning is everything. Being ethical is costly.

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-executive-branch/

[2] U.S. General Services Administration. “Allowances and Office Staff for Former Presidents, Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request.”

[3] https://www.justice.gov/jmd/ethics/principles-ethical-conduct

[4] https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/ethical-conduct

[5] https://news.gallup.com/poll/242129/trump-rated-worse-modern-day-presidents-ethics.aspx

[6] https://news.gallup.com/poll/509279/majority-say-biden-administration-ethics-subpar.aspx

[7] Ibid.

Gary L Stuart

I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. Read my bio.

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