But Jackson needed little urging. He thought, and rightly,
that many of the incumbents had grown lax in the performance of their
duties, if indeed they had ever been anything else, and that fresh
blood was needed in the government employ. He believed that short
terms and rapid rotation made for alertness and efficiency. He felt
that one man had as much right to public office as another, and he was
so unacquainted with the tasks of administration as to suppose all
honest citizens equally capable of serving their fellowmen in public
station. As for the grievances of persons removed, his view was that
"no individual wrong is done by removal, since neither appointment to
nor continuance in office is a matter of right."
Shortly after the election Major Lewis wrote to a friend that the
General was "resolved on making a pretty clean sweep of the
departments." It is expected, he added, that "he will cleanse the
Augean stables, and I feel pretty confident that he will not
disappoint the popular expectation in this particular." If a complete
overturn was ever really contemplated, the plan was not followed up;
and it is more than possible that it was Van Buren who marked off the
limits beyond which it would not be expedient to go.
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