Date of Award

5-1972

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Francis P. Prucha

Abstract

When Benjamin Harrison assumed the Presidency of the United States in March, 1889, he committed his administration to the preservation, in all essentials, of a commonly approved status quo. After all, so the argument ran, America was a success economically, socially, and politically, and why tamper unduly with a winning combination? Nowhere was the quiet Indianian more moderate in his expectations than toward the potentially incendiary issue of civil service reform, which he gingerly broached in his inaugural address. While giving due regard to the claims of the party faithful for patronage, he would not lower the standards of honesty and competency to accommodate them, and he assured that the Civil Service (Pendleton) Act would be enforced "fully and without evasion."

Comments

An Essay submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Share

COinS