We’ve just seen something that’s only happened once before in American history. Grover Cleveland won the presidency in 1884, lost it in 1888, and won it back again in 1892, becoming President #22 and 24. Donald Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won again in 2024, becoming President #45 and 47. (Cleveland won the popular vote all 3 times, tho; Trump, only the last time.)
Besides that similarity, they share a mutual interest in the federal civil-service system. Thruout most of the 19th Century, every time the White House changed occupants, there was massive turnover in federal offices, as jobs were awarded to members of the incoming president’s party. It didn’t much matter whether the new office-holders had much experience in those jobs, or even basic competence; those weren’t the primary criteria. Party loyalty was all that mattered. This was most noticeable in the favorite political plums of all: postmasterships in every city, village, town, and hamlet in the country, where party activists could be rewarded with a spot on the federal payroll without having to leave home. Of course, it meant the mail was screwed up everywhere for a couple of months thereafter, but hey, to the victor belong the spoils, right? That’s why this approach was called the “spoils system”.
Cleveland didn’t like it. He wanted the public to be served by people who actually knew what they were doing and were good at it, so his administration created job requirements, recruited people who met them, encouraged them to develop detailed expertise, and rewarded good performance and longevity, so it was possible to make a career out of government work and actually establish institutional memory within the various departments and bureaus.
But, as I said, he and Trump share a mutual interest in the civil service. Cleveland created it; Trump wants to destroy it.
We’ve just seen something that’s only happened once before in American history. Grover Cleveland won the presidency in 1884, lost it in 1888, and won it back again in 1892, becoming President #22 and 24. Donald Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won again in 2024, becoming President #45 and 47. (Cleveland won the popular vote all 3 times, tho; Trump, only the last time.)
Besides that similarity, they share a mutual interest in the federal civil-service system. Thruout most of the 19th Century, every time the White House changed occupants, there was massive turnover in federal offices, as jobs were awarded to members of the incoming president’s party. It didn’t much matter whether the new office-holders had much experience in those jobs, or even basic competence; those weren’t the primary criteria. Party loyalty was all that mattered. This was most noticeable in the favorite political plums of all: postmasterships in every city, village, town, and hamlet in the country, where party activists could be rewarded with a spot on the federal payroll without having to leave home. Of course, it meant the mail was screwed up everywhere for a couple of months thereafter, but hey, to the victor belong the spoils, right? That’s why this approach was called the “spoils system”.
Cleveland didn’t like it. He wanted the public to be served by people who actually knew what they were doing and were good at it, so his administration created job requirements, recruited people who met them, encouraged them to develop detailed expertise, and rewarded good performance and longevity, so it was possible to make a career out of government work and actually establish institutional memory within the various departments and bureaus.
But, as I said, he and Trump share a mutual interest in the civil service. Cleveland created it; Trump wants to destroy it.