"
But Jackson did not mind; he liked to see people enjoy themselves.
"Let the boys have a good time once in four years," he said.
Jackson was a man of the people, but he was an autocrat too, and
he had a will so unbending that even in his soldiering days he had
been called Old Hickory. So now, Old Hickory had a Cabinet but he
did not consult them. He simply told them what he meant to do. His
real Cabinet were a few friends who had nothing at all to do with
the government. They used to see him in private, and go in and
out by a back door. So they got the name of the Kitchen Cabinet.
And this Kitchen Cabinet had much more to do with Jackson's
administration than the real Cabinet.
As President, Jackson did many good things. But he did one bad
thing. He began what is known as the "spoils system."
Before, when a new President was elected, the Cabinet, secretaries
and such people were of course changed also. But Jackson was
not content with that. He thought that it was only right that his
friends who had helped him to become President should be rewarded.
So he turned out all sorts of civil servants, such as post masters,
customs officers, and clerks of all sorts. This he did, not because
they were dishonest, or useless, or unfit for their positions, but
simply because they did not think as he did in politics. And in
their places he put his own friends who did think as he did.
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