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
Great Flood of 1881 Great Flood of 1881 The Great Flood of 1881 refers to flooding events along the Missouri River during the spring of 1881. The flood began around Pierre, South Dakota and struck areas down river in Yankton, South Dakota, Omaha, Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nebraska City, Nebraska, Kansas City, Missouri and further south between April 1, 1881 and April 27, 1881. The events provided the first detailed reporting of Missouri River flooding, and caused millions of dollars in damage. Snowfall in the winter of 1880-81 was unusually heavy and throughout March 1881 temperatures remained extraordinarily cold. Then during the last week