Work in progress — cycles are added one at a time. Every quote is machine-verified against an archived source; follow the links to read it.

1936 › Alf Landon (Republican) › Civil service and patronage

Restore, improve and extend the merit system 'virtually destroyed by New Deal spoilsmen'

pledge_forwarddirectional_stancecandidate_directevidence B Civil Service & Administration similar solutions · similar reasoning

Solution

Return the civil service to a merit basis offering permanent careers irrespective of party; remove politicians from administrative jobs.

Rationale

'Official authority has been given to inexperienced and incompetent persons.'

Statements (2)

1936-06-11 · Republican National Convention, Cleveland (platform) · conventionparty_platform ✓ verified

We pledge ourselves to the merit system, virtually destroyed by New Deal spoilsmen. It should be restored, improved and extended.

Source: Republican Party Platform of 1936 (1936-06-09)

1936-10-22 · Aboard the Landon special (Washington Times report) · generalreported ✓ verified

Only one subject was revealed --a de nunciation of the Roosevelt ad ministration for an "influx of spoilsmen into the Government service" and its alleged failure to maintain the merit system among Federal employes.

Source: Landon assails New Deal's influx of spoilsmen (Washington Times, Oct. 22, 1936, p. 3) (1936-10-22)

Follow-through

not_applicable

The Hatch Act (1939) and Ramspeck Act (1940) extended civil-service rules and coverage under the winner.

Enacted by others

1939-08-02

Franklin D. Roosevelt

statute Hatch Act

Political-activity rules for all federal employees. source

Other positions on this issue

Keep the merit system 'unassailable' — Herbert Hoover, 1932 directional_stance
Immediately extend the merit system to all non-policy-making federal positions — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936 specific_pledge

1936-landon-restore-merit-system · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed