U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

			Any history of public service in the United States will unquestionably put major emphasis on the spoils system versus the merit system and uphold the superiority of the latter. At the beginning of our Republic, however, there was no spoils system. There existed during the first six presidencies of the United States a system of making appointments, by and large on merit, that worked well.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management 1900 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20415 | (202) 606-1800 | TTY (202) 606-2532