The act of violence almost 150 years ago effectively gave birth to the civil service, that class of nonpartisan experts who ...

The civilian federal workforce, not including military personnel and postal workers, comprises about 2.4 million people.

Reformers in the Republican Party, which dominated national politics in the 1860s and 1870s, had been calling for a ...

Hayes was succeeded by President James Garfield, who ran on reform. But only months after being sworn in, the spoils system exacted its most horrifying toll. Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled ...

In the 1800s, the main job requirement for most federal employees was loyalty to the newly-elected president, who would fill the government bureaucracy with his supporters. But after a rejected office ...

Hayes was succeeded by President James Garfield, who ran on reform. But only months after being sworn in, the spoils system exacted its most horrifying toll. Garfield was assassinated by a ...