Pendleton Act of 1883

The Pendleton Act of 1883, also known as the Civil Service Act, was the first major piece of legislation that regulated elements of a federal bureaucracy plagued with a history of patronage, graft, and corruption. In the decades following the American Civil War, reformers advocated a system of government administration that was more responsive to the public and less beholden to political parties and their machines. Despite attempts in the early 1870s to establish a civil service commission with the power to control the hiring and dismissal of employees, meaningful change at the national level only came after the assassination of Republican President James Garfield.

The legislation, originally proposed by Democratic Senator George H. Pendleton from Ohio, authorized the establishment of a three-person bipartisan commission with the power to assist the president in creating rules that regulated the federal workforce. The legislation outlined eight guidelines to direct the work of the president and the commission that included the use of competitive exams to determine the qualifications of applicants. The legislation also required that all new employees be subject to a probationary period before an offer of permanent employment was tendered, and eliminated the requirement that employees contribute to the political campaigns of elected officials. The overarching purpose of the law was to establish a system based on merit that ended the practice of removing individuals from federal positions for purely partisan motives.

Although the bill passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate rather handily during the lame-duck legislative session of 1882 and 1883, the reform proposal likely would have [Page 1329]been defeated if not for the death of President Garfield. Garfield's election to the presidency came as a result of a compromise between two competing factions in the Republican Party. The Stalwarts supported the nomination of Ulysses S. Grant for a third term in large measure because Grant opposed civil service reform. The moderate wing of the party, the Half-Breeds, advocated the candidacy of James Blaine of Maine, who supported the elimination of political patronage. Garfield represented an acceptable middle ground, although the Stalwarts were able to strengthen their position with the selection of Chester Arthur as Garfield's running mate.

Despite Garfield's ostensible moderation, he surprised many by calling for significant reform to the federal bureaucracy in his inaugural address—a proposal met with resistance from Republicans who controlled Congress. On July 2, 1881, only four months into his tenure as president, Garfield was shot and gravely wounded by Charles Guiteau. Guiteau, who was likely mentally ill, was active in Republican Party politics and had supported the nomination of Grant for president. He fancied himself a political insider and attempted to curry favor with a number of party leaders. After the election of Garfield, he moved to Washington, D.C., expecting to be awarded a patronage position with the federal government as a reward for his efforts during the election. Guiteau became well known in Washington as a nuisance, and was eventually banned from entering the White House. Angered over being rebuffed, he purchased a revolver that he used to shoot Garfield in a Washington train station.

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