Political appointments in the United States federal government until 1883. In 1820 Congress limited federal administrators to four-year terms, which led to constant turnover; by the 1860s and the Civil War, patronage had led to widespread inefficiency and political corruption. Although it used to be confined to cabinet positions, department heads, and foreign ambassadorships, by the 1860s patronage had spread to low-level government positions. This meant that when the incumbent political party lost a presidential election, the federal government underwent wholesale turnover. On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a disaffected and mentally unstable political office seeker, assassinated President James Garfield. This highlighted how much the
Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps Jennings Bryan for the Presidency (1897–1901). McKinley was assassinated early in his second term while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th President of the United States. He served as president from September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909. In 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated, and Roosevelt became president at the age of 42, taking office at the youngest age of any US President in history at that time. Roosevelt was a hero of the Spanish–American War and the Battle of San Juan Hill for which