What Was ‘’The Spoils System’’-Its Definition And Summary?

When presidential administrations changed in the 19th century, the process of hiring and discharging federal employees came to be known as "The Spoils System." The patronage system is another name for it.

 

When President Andrew Jackson took office in March 1829, the custom got its start under his watch. Jackson's supporters presented it as an effort to reorganize the federal government that was both necessary and overdue.

 

Jackson's political rivals saw things very differently because they saw in his strategy a corrupt application of political patronage. Additionally, the appellation "Spoils System" was meant to be insulting.

 

Senator William L. Marcy of New York said it in a speech. Marcy famously uttered the phrase "to the victor belong the spoils" in a speech to the U.S. Senate in support of the Jackson administration's policies.

 

After the bitter election of 1828, Andrew Jackson was determined to overhaul how the federal government ran when he assumed office in March 1829. And as would be expected, he encountered strong opposition.

 

Jackson naturally had a great deal of mistrust for his political rivals. He was still quite upset with John Quincy Adams when he gained office. Jackson believed that there were many individuals within the federal government who opposed him.

 

Jackson became enraged when he believed that some of his attempts were being thwarted. His response was to create a formal programme to remove individuals from federal positions and replace them with workers regarded as being loyal to his administration.

 

Of fact, previous administrations dating back to George Washington's had employed loyalists, but under Jackson, the purging of those deemed to be political rivals became a matter of official policy.

 

It was an improvement that Jackson and his supporters welcomed. There were rumors that old men, no longer able to do their tasks, continued to hold posts to which they had been assigned by George Washington some forty years previously.

 

Jackson's decision to replace federal personnel drew vehement criticism from his political rivals. However, they were practically helpless to stop it.

 

In other instances, the new tactic was linked to Jackson's political partner and future president Martin Van Buren, whose New York political machine, the Albany Regency, had worked in a similar way.

 

Jackson's strategy was allegedly responsible for approximately 700 government personnel losing their employment in 1829, the first year of his presidency, according to published sources from the 19th century. A newspaper article from July 1829 said that the mass firings of federal employees had a negative impact on the city of Washington's economy because retailers were unable to make sales.

 

Although it may have been overstated, Jackson's policy was undoubtedly divisive.Henry Clay, Jackson's steadfast foe, got engaged in the situation in January 1832. In a Senate discussion, he attacked Senator Marcy of New York, accusing the devoted Jacksonian of bringing dishonest tactics from the New York political machine to Washington.

 

Marcy responded to Clay indignantly, "They find nothing wrong with the rule that to the victor come the spoils," defending the Albany Regency.

 

The saying gained notoriety and was frequently used. Jackson's detractors frequently used it as an illustration of obvious corruption that gave political backers federal jobs.

 

The practice of giving federal employment to allies of the president was adopted by every presidents who served after Jackson. There are numerous accounts of President Abraham Lincoln, for instance, becoming utterly irritated with officer-seekers who would visit the White House to request jobs during the height of the Civil War.

 

The Spoils System was criticized for years, but it wasn't until President James Garfield was shot dead by a disgruntled and insane office seeker in the summer of 1881 that it was finally changed. 11 weeks after being shot by Charles Guiteau at a railroad station in Washington, D.C., Garfield passed away on September 19, 1881.

 

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which established civil servants—federal employees who were neither employed or fired as a result of politics—was partially inspired by the assassination of President Garfield.

 

According to his political backers, Senator Marcy of New York, whose response to Henry Clay gave the Spoils System its name, was unfairly maligned. The way that Marcy's reply has frequently been interpreted as a haughty defense of unethical behavior is not how he intended it to be taken.

 

Marcy, incidentally, had been a hero in the War of 1812 and, after a brief stint in the U.S. Senate, held the office of governor of New York for 12 years. He later served as President James K. Polk's secretary of war. Later, when President Franklin Pierce appointed Marcy secretary of state, she assisted in negotiating the Gadsden Purchase. He is honored by having Mount Marcy, New York State's highest point, bear his name.

 

Nevertheless, despite a lengthy and impressive government career, William Marcy is most known for unintentionally coining the infamous moniker for the Spoils System.