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Article: The Patriotic Business of Seeking Office: James K. Polk and the Patronage.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- June 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Patriotic Business of Seeking Office: James K. Polk and the Patronage. By John Devoti. (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2006. Pp. xvi, 146. $25.00.)
The issue raised consistently in this brief volume is whether continuity or discontinuity characterized President James K. Polk's patronage policies. The answer, the author suggests, had significant consequences for the fate of the antebellum Democratic Party and the nation. Some historians argue Andrew Jackson's administration initiated the spoils system to augment his party's power and that later presidents followed that proscriptive policy. John Devoti disagrees; Polk's policy was George Washington's ...