Federal civil servants are often disparaged as obstructionist bureaucrats. And people might think that it’s only logical that a new president should be able to fire any government employee on a whim and hire people who are considered more loyal.
In fact, the federal government actually operated under such a patronage system for much of the 19th century, with jobs for sale to political devotees of the incumbent president and civil servants subject to arbitrary dismissal. That changed after a disgruntled job seeker assassinated President James A. Garfield in 1881 — a shocking episode that prompted Congress to reform the corrupt spoils system with passage of a law that professionalized federal career positions and protected employees from capricious firings.
