machine, that complex hierarchy of committees ranging from
Washington to every cross-roads in the Republic. The committee
system, described in a former chapter, was perfected by the
Republican party during the days of the Civil War, under the
stress of national necessity. The great party leaders were then
in Congress. When the assassination of Lincoln placed Andrew
Johnson in power, the bitter quarrel between Congress and the
President firmly united the Republicans; and in order to carry
the mid-election in 1866, they organized a Congressional Campaign
Committee to conduct the canvass. This practice has been
continued by both parties, and in "off" years it plays a very
prominent part in the party campaign. Congress alone, however,
was only half the conquest. It was only through control of the
Administration that access was gained to the succulent herbage of
federal pasturage and that vast political prestige with the voter
was achieved.

The President is nominally the head of his party. In reality he
may not be; he may be only the President. That depends upon his
personality, his desires, his hold upon Congress and upon the
people, and upon the circumstances of the hour. During the Grant
Administration, as already described, there existed, in every
sense of the term, a federal machine. It held Congress, the
Executive, and the vast federal patronage in its power. All the
federal office-holders, all the postmasters and their assistants,
revenue collectors, inspectors, clerks, marshals, deputies,
consuls, and ambassadors were a part of the organization,
contributing to its maintenance. We often hear today of the
"Federal Crowd," a term used to describe such appointees as still
subsist on presidential and senatorial favor. In Grant's time,