Policies
Congress did pass the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to make the act of forming a trust to gain a business advantage illegal. However the law was rarely enforced, and was even used against labor unions: the government argued that workers who banded together to pressure employers into raising wages or making working conditions safer were in violation of the Antitrust Act.
The policy of the era made it look like the friends and financial supporters of Congressional members influenced policy decisions. The spoils system, whereby Congressional officials showed favoritism to friends and financial supporters, alienated the working class. Friends and financial supporters would win government posts as a result of the spoils system. President Hayes fought the spoils system with civil service reform which required government officials to demonstrate that they were qualified for their position.
James A. Garfield was elected the twentieth president of the United States, but was murdered in 1881, the same year he took office. His assailant, Charles Guiteau, was enraged because Garfield wanted to reform the spoils system, thus keeping Guiteau from getting a government job that he felt he had won. Chester A. Arthur, Garfield’s Vice President and subsequent twenty-first president of the United States, did succeed in getting the Pendleton Civil Service Act passed in 1883. The act created a Civil Service Commission which classified jobs and required applicants to take civil service tests. The act also made it illegal to require government employees to contribute to campaign funds.