duties, if indeed they had ever been anything else, and that fresh
blood was needed in the government employ. He believed that short
terms and rapid rotation made for alertness and efficiency. He felt
that one man had as much right to public office as another, and he was
so unacquainted with the tasks of administration as to suppose all
honest citizens equally capable of serving their fellowmen in public
station. As for the grievances of persons removed, his view was that
"no individual wrong is done by removal, since neither appointment to
nor continuance in office is a matter of right."

Shortly after the election Major Lewis wrote to a friend that the
General was "resolved on making a pretty clean sweep of the
departments." It is expected, he added, that "he will cleanse the
Augean stables, and I feel pretty confident that he will not
disappoint the popular expectation in this particular." If a complete
overturn was ever really contemplated, the plan was not followed up;
and it is more than possible that it was Van Buren who marked off the
limits beyond which it would not be expedient to go. None the less,
Jackson's removals far exceeded those made by his predecessors.
Speaking broadly, the power of removal had never yet been exercised in
the Federal Government with offensive partizanship. Even under
Jefferson, when the holders of half of the offices were changed in the
space of four years, there were few removals for political reasons.

No sooner was Jackson in office, however, than wholesale proscription
began. The ax fell in every department and bureau, and cut off chiefs
and clerks with equal lack of mercy. Age and experience counted rather
against a man than in his favor, and rarely was any reason given for
removal other than that some one else wanted the place. When Congress
met, in December, it was estimated that a thousand persons had been