Government Corruption

A string of ineffective Presidents and a bunch of corrupt office holders led to a pretty sad state of gov. Spoils System – Started with Andrew Jackson. Appoint you friends to easy government jobs whether they were qualified or not. U.S. Grant – The most corrupt administration of all the Presidents. 1. His “buddies” charged the U.S. an extra $23 million to build the Transcontinental Railroad. 2. Whiskey Ring – Millions of tax dollars went into the pockets of people instead of the government.

James Garfield – While putting together his cabinet, one of the people not appointed was Rosco Conkling. This irritated many people. One of them was Charles Guiteau who shot Garfield 4 months later. Chester A. Arthur – Garfield’s Vice President. He decided to put an end to the Spoils System. Pendleton Civil Service Act 1. To get a government job you had to take a test and pass it. 2. Promotions were based on merit not the political connections you had.

Garfield Video

Tammany Hall The worst of all the political machines. Run by William Macy “Boss” Tweed. He stole millions of dollars from N.Y. City. Eventually a book keeper told the N.Y. Times what Tweed was doing. Investigations were started. Thomas Nast looked into the situation. He would draw political cartoons exposing Tweed’s corruption.