Four US Presidents have been assassinated. There are two everyone remembers - President Abraham Lincoln and President John F. Kennedy, but there were two others! President James Garfield and President William McKinley. President Garfield's assassination got rid of the Spoils System once and for all.
President Andrew Jackson introduced the Spoils System, and it stayed for 40 plus years. The Spoils System made the US Government extremely ineffective. In the 19th Century it was seen as beneath the Presidential Candidates to campaign - so their supporters campaigned for them. If they won then their supporters were rewarded with a government job.
But they did not know how to do the job! So they just sat there and twiddled their thumbs! Well when President Garfield campaigned for President, Charles Guiteau campaigned for him, and when Garfield won he expected a government job! He even had a meeting with Garfield who said thanks for campaigning, but no job here!
Guiteau went home disappointed, and had a dream where God told him to kill the President. God would never tell you to do that! But Guiteau began to stalk the President, and learned his schedule. When he was ready - he killed the president.
Charles Guiteau and the gun he used to kill the President
President Garfield died a few days later, and Chester A. Arthur became president. The press called Guiteau "a disgruntled office seeker." So President Arthur enacted the Pendleton Service Act where NOW government employees must demonstrate they know how to the job! The Ancient Chinese did this thousands of years ago. I guess it took a Presidential Assassination to figure this out for America. The SPOILS SYSTEM is gone.
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