To The Victor Belong The Spoils

It has been many, many years since I studied American History. But if I remember correctly the term “To The Victor Belong The Spoils” was coined during the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, who was elected in 1828. Even before that the elected leaders of the new country rewarded their political workers and followers with important government jobs. But it was Andrew Jackson who carried this out to an exaggerated degree. In later years the civil service system was established and most government employees had guaranteed jobs depending upon their qualifications. But the heads of the government departments continued to be appointed by the winning Presidential Candidate. Hopefully he would chose people who were highly qualified in addition to being his campaign supporters. Sometimes this was true.
As hurricane Katrina was forecast to impact the New Orleans area (three days prior to landfall) the experienced civil service employees of FEMA warned the appointed heads of that department: “New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies below sea level - -If the hurricane winds blow from a certain direction there are dire predictions of what may happen in the city”. But this warning went unheeded. The problems that developed later stemmed from the fact that political appointees Mike Brown, head of FEMA, and Michael Cernoff, head of National Security, had been lawyers but had little emergency management experience. President Bush had appointed his loyal followers, and Congress had approved his choices. They were not wise choices, but this was not new in the history of our country.
In the time of Andrew Jackson the operation of government departments was not as complex as it is today. Hurricanes happened, but terrorist threats were not as imminent or potentially deadly. Can our leaders in Congress begin to realize this and establish more stringent qualifications for the heads of government agencies on which our safety and the very existence of the country may depend? I always say “ God Save America” but God needs some help from us.