Spoils system

The spoils system is a practice in which a victorious political party rewards its loyal supporters with government jobs. In the United States, the hiring of political allies was common during the tenures of early presidents, but it became federal policy under Andrew Jackson in 1829. Jackson saw the system as a way to reform government and remove entrenched officeholders, but his critics called it political payback and a corrupt use of power. The term originated from an 1832 speech by a New York senator who defended Jackson's policy by comparing it to "spoils" won during battle. The spoils system lasted until the 1880s, when it was replaced by a merit-based hiring process.

History

When George Washington took the oath of office as President of the United States in 1789, he promised to appoint only the most qualified people to positions within the new government. The fledgling US bureaucracy consisted of only three departments—Treasury, War, and State—and despite Washington's claims, most of these jobs were filled with supporters of his Federalist Party. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became president, and he replaced the Federalists in high-ranking government positions with members of his Democratic-Republican Party.

Presidential politics turned especially nasty in the election of 1824 when no candidate received the required 131 electoral votes to win the office. War hero Andrew Jackson won 99 electoral votes, and runner-up John Quincy Adams had 84. Jackson also came out on top in the popular vote. As per the rules established by the Constitution, the House of Representatives would vote to decide the winner of the election. Influential Congressperson Henry Clay of Virginia lobbied in support of Adams. With his help, the House elected Adams president. After Adams took office, Clay was named Secretary of State. Jackson was furious, and his supporters labeled the election a "corrupt bargain." He viewed Clay's appointment as a sign of a dishonest political system.

Jackson and Adams faced off again in the election of 1828—a very bitter campaign noted for relentless personal attacks from both sides. Jackson portrayed himself as a champion of the common person, and he accused Adams of being a corrupt Washington insider. Jackson won the contest handily.

When he took office, Jackson began a series of reforms. He swept out many government employees appointed during the Adams administration and replaced them with people loyal to his campaign. While presidents had always appointed political allies to top-level positions, Jackson extended the purge down to the lower levels of government. He called this process "rotation in office" and felt it was necessary to root out what he saw as entrenched corruption in Washington. He also argued that it would lead to a more representative government. Since the new employees were loyal to him, they would help institute his campaign promises more effectively.

Jackson's political enemies denounced the policy, calling it political revenge against Adams's supporters and blatant evidence of corruption. In 1832, Jackson's nomination of Martin Van Buren as ambassador to England came under fire in the Senate. Opposition was led by former Secretary of State Henry Clay, who criticized the appointment as an example of unchecked political patronage. Senator William Marcy of New York defended Van Buren and Jackson's policy, arguing that the president had a right to appoint whomever he pleased because "to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy." The term stuck, and Jackson's policy became known as the spoils system by both critics and supporters.

Legacy

Jackson may have intended the spoils system to sweep away corruption, but it did not have the desired effect. Instead, thousands of jobseekers descended upon Washington during Jackson's inauguration, hoping to land a government position. Many jobs were doled out as rewards without regard for capability. Jackson named his friend, John Eaton, as secretary of war, even though Eaton was not qualified for the position. Eaton's marriage to a newly widowed woman in 1829 also proved a liability and engulfed the Jackson administration in scandal. After two years, Eaton was forced to resign in 1831. Jackson's appointment of his wartime friend Samuel Swartwout as collector for the New York City customhouse also ended in disgrace when Swartwout was accused of embezzling more than $1 million.

Through much of the nineteenth century, presidents continued the practice of rewarding their political supporters with federal positions. As the size of the government grew, so did the number of jobseekers asking the president for employment. The process of filling the growing government bureaucracy began to take up more of the president's valuable time. Attempts were made at reform, but none of them had any lasting impact.

In 1881, Charles Guiteau, a man bitter at being passed over for a government job, assassinated President James Garfield. The tragedy spurred calls for reform. Two years later, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which mandated that government positions be awarded on merit and established a civil service test to measure qualifications. The act also made it illegal to fire or demote federal employees for their political affiliation. When the law was passed in 1883, it applied to only about 10 percent of the federal workforce. In the twenty-first century, the majority of federal employees were covered. When President Donald Trump began his second presidential term in January 2025, he reinstated Executive Order 13957, which introduced a new "Schedule F" category within the federal civil service. This removed civil service protections and made it easier to replace career officials with individuals aligned politically. This coupled with Trump's selection of key figures for his cabinet raised concerns about a new version of the spoils system.

Bibliography

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Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler. "Not a Ragged Mob; The Inauguration of 1829." The White House Historical Association, www.whitehousehistory.org/not-a-ragged-mob-the-inauguration-of-1829. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.

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