The Republican era, 1869-1901; a study in administrative history

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THE REPUBLICAN ERA is the fourth £volume of Dr. Leonard White’s brilliant oseries, which traces the evolution of oursystem of government from 1798 to 1901.

In THE REPUBLICAN ERA, theauthor covers the years beginning withGrant’s administration and ending withthe assumption of the presidency by Theo-dore Roosevelt in September, 1901. Overthese formative years, the author tracesthe changes, expansion, and progress ofthe great government departments andthe personalities of the men at the helm.

The years from 1869-1901 marked thegradual restoration of the authority of thePresident after it had been nearly wreckedby the impeachment of Andrew Johnsonand the abnegation of Grant. During theseyears the Civil Service Commission beganits work, and the "spoils system’’ inaugu-rated by Jackson was gradually expelledfrom the public service. New ideals of therole and function of government, some-times against stubborn opposition, gradu-ally took hold. Besides a five-fold expan-sion in the civilian payroll, two new de-partments, Justice and Agriculture, wereadded to the government establishment.

This important period in our history —covering the administrations of Grant,Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Har-rison and McKinley—heralded the dawnof a new century, in which would be en-acted profound political, social, and eco-nomic changes.

As in his previous volumes, the fed-eralists, THE JEFFERSONIANS, and THEjacksonians, which received a 1954Bancroft Prize, the republican erais distinguished by its superb scholarship,its human understanding and the liveli-ness of its style.

No books will be issued to persons in arrears for fines.Careful usage of books is expected, and any soiling, in-jury or loss is to be paid for by the borrower.

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Matthew Arnold visited the United States in 1883 and upon hisreturn to Great Britain commented upon American institutions. ‘‘Isuppose,” he wrote, “I am not by nature disposed to think so muchas most people do of 'institutions.' The Americans think and talk verymuch of their 'institutions’; I am by nature inclined ... to regard,rather, men and their characters. But the more I saw of America,the more I found myself led to treat 'institutions’ with increasedrespect. Until I went to the United States I had never seen a peoplewith institutions which seemed expressly and thoroughly suited to it.I had not properly appreciated the benefits proceeding from thiscause.”1

This book, like its predecessors, The Federalists, The Jeffersonians,and The Jacksonians, is a study of institutions, but illuminated, it ishoped, by sketches of the men who operated them. Behind men andinstitutions stand the ideas and ideals of succeeding generationswhich bind all together into a stable whole. These I have allowedthe participants to state for themselves.

One is impressed indeed with the continuity of administrativeinstitutions, surviving the transformation of the economic structure,political convulsions, and the impact of war. Neither the Civil Warnor the Spanish-American War left much impression on civilinstitutions; the return to normalcy was rapid and substantiallycomplete.

Two major problems occupied the center of the administrativestage—the relation of Congress to the President and their respectiveroles vis-a-vis the administrative system; and the reform of thecivil service. The former was an ancient dilemma; the latter, relativelynovel. The former was productive of little analysis excepting Wood-row Wilson’s Congressional Government which, as events were to

1 Matthew Arnold, Civilization in the United States: First and Last Impressionsof America (Boston: Cupples and Hurd, 1888), pp. 114-15.

prove, did not foretell future trends and developments. The latterwas productive of an abundant literature from Charles Francis Adamsthrough George William Curtis, Carl Schurz, and the reformers,again to Woodrow Wilson. His prophetic essay, “The Study ofAdministration/’ was a pioneer analysis in the middle of thirty yearsof intellectual indifference to the problem, as he put it, how “tostraighten the paths of government, to make its business less un-businesslike, to strengthen and purify its organization, and to crownits duties with dutifulness.”

This work now spans over a century of administrative history. Theyears from 1869 to 1901 marked the culmination of Jacksonian theoryand practice, with all their strength and weakness. Federalist doctrine,long in disrepute, again made itself felt, but in a new partnershipwith democratic ideas. Theodore Roosevelt declared that he wasboth a Federalist and a Jeffersonian. Hamilton’s concept of a stable,competent, and politically neutral public service was inherent in theCivil Service Act; but neither the Republican nor Democratic partiesespoused Hamilton’s intention to make government a positive forcein society.

I am under continuing obligations to the University of ChicagoLibrary and to the Baker Library of Dartmouth College—a generoushost to visiting scholars. The National Archives and the Library ofCongress have been most helpful, although their riches have hardlybeen touched. They invite wide ranges of monographic studies inadministrative history and biography. I am also greatly indebted tothe University of Chicago and to the Rockefeller Foundation forcontinued financial support.

To record again my heavy debt to Jean Schneider is both a duty anda pleasure. She has contributed so much to this volume, as well as toThe FedeTalistSy The Jeffersonians, and The Jacksonians, that it is justto acknowledge my obligation on the title page of The RepublicanEra.