The Deadly Story of the U.S. Civil Service
When James Garfield won the Presidency in 1880, Charles Guiteau got ready to accept his new government job. No one had actually offered him a job – but he'd campaigned for Garfield, so he assumed he'd be rewarded. That was the spoils system, and it was how the government worked.
But President Garfield didn't hire him. Guiteau was furious. And on July 2, 1881, he followed Garfield to a Washington D.C. train station and shot him.
Today on the show: how an assassination meant to restore the spoils system instead led to its end, and birthed the modern federal workforce.
Guests:
Candice Millard, author of Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President.
Scott Greenberger, executive editor of Stateline and author of The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A Arthur.
Tom Mach, professor of history at Cedarville University and author of "Gentleman George" Hunt Pendleton: Party Politics and Ideologial Identity in Nineteenth-Century America.
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Correction April 28, 2025
An earlier version of this episode incorrectly said that Abram Garfield fought a fire with his brothers. In fact, he fought the fire with his neighbors.