Civil+Service+Reform+and+the+Pendleton+Act

=__Pendleton Act and Civil Reform__= President Chester Arthur

The period in which the Pendleton Act was conceived was quite a turbulent time in American history. There was rampant corruption and a government in serious need of civil reform. The Pendleton Act of 1883 was the start of this reform. The system was based on who you knew or who would not stand up to your corruption. But this wonderful, beautiful act made it so that the system was based on merit rather than spoil system. Though it only applied to Federal government and not to the state and local gov't. At first it only applied to about 10% of federal jobs but now it up to 90% of jobs. The result of this act was a better run gov't and less politics and more expertise going into the jobs. A large patron of this reform was Theodore Roosevelt who was a big supporter. Also a product of the spoils system, President Arthur, was a big supporter of the bill also. Because the corruption of this era, and the fact that the public was getting more involved and noticing all the scandals, they called reform. The final push was the assassination of President Garfield. Which forced congress to open their eyes and reform. The Pendleton Act was one of the first to reform. Mr. Pendleton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act http://www.historycentral.com/Industrialage/PendletonAct.html http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=old&page=&doc=48&title=Pendleton+Act+(1883)