-What is a bipartisan civil service commission? In the textbook, it says that "the resulting Pendleton Civil Service act of 1883 authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments to federal jobs through a merit system based on candidates' performance on an examination". ... Just kind of lost me a little when I was reading it.
Outline of the section:
----Civil Service replaces Patronage----
-Presidents were complaining about the act of patronage since the beginning of the 19th century. Patronage is giving government jobs to the people that helped a candidate get elected. Anyone really could be accepted into office, no matter how little experience they had.
-Reformers wanted to get rid of patronage. They believed that jobs in the civil service, or the government administration, should go to those who are the most qualified. It shouldn't matter who recommended them for office or what views they may have politically.
-The reform was moving slowly but surely under president Rutherford B. Hayes, but unfortunately, he was unable to sway Congress in the reform's favor. But he didn't give up. He set up a commission to investigate the country's customhouses, government buildings that collect customs and clear vessels. They were extremely corrupt, or full of errors or tainted with bad character and dishonest practices. The customhouses were controlled by the Republicans. After Hayes heard about the report of the commission, he fired two of the highest officers. These firings sparked a hate in the Republican New York senator and political boss Roscoe Conkling. His supporters, the Stalwarts, weren't too happy about it either.
-When Hayes didn't run for a second term, an all out brawl between the reformers and the Stalwarts was started. The Stalwarts supported patronage, while the reformers were pressing to eliminate it. It seemed to be a stalemate between the two opposing parties. To find an answer, the convention settled on an independent presidential candidate: James A. Garfield, an Ohio congressman and a supporter to the reformers. To balance out the reformers and the Stalwarts, they nominated Chester A. Arthur, one of Conkling's supporters.
-Sadly, Garfield's presidency didn't last for very long. On July 2, 1881, Garfield was walking through the D.C. train station when he was shot twice by a mentally unstable lawyer named Charles Guiteau. Garfield had turned Guiteau down for a job. The lawyer was a supporter for Conkling, and announced, "I did it and I willgo to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur is now president." Garfield died from his wounds EXACTLY 130 years ago today.
Will continue this tomorrow.
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