Question

Why didn’t the reforms made after President Garfield’s assassination completely reduce corruption nationwide? A. The reforms applied only to state governments. B. The reforms applied only to the federal government. C. The reforms applied only to city governments. D. The reforms applied only to city and state governments.

Answer 1

The correct answer is D, as the reforms applied only to the federal government.

President Garfield was murdered at the hands of a stalwart to whom he had denied a public position. After his death, the Pendleton Act was sanctioned in 1883, to establish the ways in which federal government officials would accede to their positions, based on merit rather than political affiliation.

But the Pendleton Act only applied to the federal government, so at the state and local level the corrupt designation practice by political affiliation continued to be used.