Practically all were inexperienced, most were incompetent, and several
proved dishonest.
"There has been," wrote the President in his journal a few weeks after
the inauguration, "a great noise made about removals." Protest arose
not only from the proscribed and their friends, but from the
Adams-Clay forces generally, and even from some of the more moderate
Jacksonians. "Were it not for the outdoor popularity of General
Jackson," wrote Webster, "the Senate would have negatived more than
half his nominations." As it was, many were rejected; and some of the
worst were, under pressure, withdrawn. On the general principle the
President held his ground. "It is rotation in office," he again and
again asserted in all honesty, "that will perpetuate our liberty," and
from this conviction no amount of argument or painful experience could
shake him. After 1830 one hears less about the subject, but only
because the novelty and glamor of the new regime had worn off.
Jackson was not the author of the spoils system. The device of using
the offices as rewards for political service had long been familiar in
the state and local governments, notably in New York.
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