Whatever happened to integrity?

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.
• Position: Parting Thoughts - Editorial

THE DEFINITION OF INTEGRITY makes one gun-shy of applying it to oneself. It implies "rigid adherence to a code of behavior, probidity, complete unity, honesty." One thinks of the Delphic Oracle's simple words of wisdom here: "Know thyself." The injunction in "Hamlet" of Polonius to his son, Laertes, is relevant as well: "This above all, to thine own self be true." Today, we face a societal crisis evidenced by scandal after scandal because of the lack of integrity. Examples are everywhere.

Ex-Pres. Bill Clinton admits that he lied under oath when questioned by a committee investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair. He also acknowledged that his responses had been misleading. This from the person once holding the highest office in the world! It's enough to prompt the cynic's remark about buying a used car from such a man.

The resumes of people listing their credentials in looking for jobs are notorious for false statements. Joseph Ellis, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian (Founding Brothers) and professor of Mount Holyoke College publicly claimed that he had been a platoon leader in Vietnam. This was a blatant lie as, in fact, at that time he was in the U.S. studying and writing. Sandra Baldwin, the first woman to head the U.S. Olympic Committee, admitted that she lied in her official biography that she had earned a doctoral degree. Three football coaches in universities with high national status were cited by U.S. News and World Report as falsifying their resumes. Then there was evangelist Pat Robertson, who claimed that "he saw combat in Korea." He did not! Speaking about evangelists, a recently revealed Richard Nixon tape caught the world-renowned Billy Graham telling the President that the Jewish "stranglehold" of the media was mining the country and must be broken. When questioned by the selfsame media, Graham said he didn't recall the occasion, but if it were true, he apologized. One can't go wrong doing that, as it provides wiggle room.

Integrity has gone by the board, especially concerning plagiarism. Author Doris Kearns Goodwin, who wrote The Fitzgeralds and Kennedys and No Ordinary Time (the story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt), disclosed that she had copied passages from other works without proper acknowledgement. Facing relentless criticism, she resigned from the Pulitzer Prize Board. Immensely popular Stephen Ambrose, author of Undaunted Courage (the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition), D-Day, June 6, 1944, Band of...