HIS CHAIR

Would Webster Have Survived an Ethics Committee?

The great orator borrowed money heavily from—and oftep failed to repay the business interests he represented, sought special government appointments for his sons, came perilously close to conflicts of interest between legislation and his own intercontinental real estate dealings, and, as Secretary of State, used $12,000 in federal funds while waging a secret propaganda campaign in the Maine newspapers to get voters to ratify a treaty with England. "Webster was venal even by the standards of his own day," concluded Chief Justice William Rehnquist during his speech at Dartmouth.