Institutional racism reforms of the spoils system in place since the 1830s, and abuses of the post-war Grant-Jacksonian era; when Congress authorized the president to appoint a Civil Service Commission and prescribe regulations for admission to public service. A dis-satisfied office-seeker assassinated President Garfield in 1881 and Congress was motivated to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in 1883 which firmly established civil service. During reconstruction, this enabled the federal government to provide jobs for newly freed blacks in the south (primarily the Postal Service) where no other employment opportunities existed for them. Since the inception of the merit system in
Female president of the United States in popular culture which began in 2012, Bellamy Young plays Melody Margaret Grant, who becomes the first female president of the United States. In the 2012 Finnish-German-Australian film "Iron Sky", Stephanie Paul plays a female president of the United States as a Sarah Palin-esque parody. In the 2011-2012 English-language Franco-Canadian TV series "", Sally Sheridan appears in two episodes. Mimi Kuzyk plays Sally Sheridan, who becomes the first female president of the United States, but is assassinated. Kuzyk previously appeared as United States President Sally Sheridan in the miniseries "", in which Sheridan is also assassinated. In the HBO TV series "Veep", which