The Gilded Age had its fare share of political scandals, and the Star Route scandal ranks as one of its most important. It exposed the spoils system at a time when public debate about good government filled the headlines. Why has this scandal remained so obscure when compared to others like Credit Mobilier or the Whiskey Ring. Professor Shawn Peters joins the show to discuss his latest book When Bad Men Combine, the story of the star route scandal.

Essential Reading:

Shawn Francis Peters, When Bad Men Combine: The Star Route Scandal and the Twilight of Gilded Age Politics (2023).

Recommended Reading:

Winifred Gallagher, How the Post Office Created America (2016).

Lewis L. Gould, The Republicans: A History of the Grand Old Party (2014).

Adelbert Bower Sageser, The First Two Decades of the Pendleton Act: A Study of Civil Service Reform (1935).

Thomas C. Reeves, Gentleman Boss: the Life of Chester Alan Arthur (1975).

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