When Bad Men Combine

"When Bad Men Combine is the first full-length scholarly work to examine the notorious Star Route scandal, which roiled American politics in the 1870s and 1880s. With its dramatic twists and turns, the scandal captured the nation's attention for the better part of a decade. Newspaper headlines throughout the country bore headlines decrying "Fraud at Its Finest" and the "Slickest of Swindles." The scandal itself centered on manipulating Western postal delivery contracts by cunning entrepreneurs and their accomplices within what was then known as the Post Office Department. It reached its height with two sensational criminal trials, during which evidence implicated some of the most prominent men in America, including two presidents, several current and former members of Congress, a handful of cabinet members, and small armies of federal prosecutors and defense attorneys. The scandal also involved an assassination, the bribing of juries, the possible theft-by government attorneys, no less - of important documents, and witnesses fleeing to other countries to avoid subpoenas. Based on a wide variety of primary and secondary source materials, including trial transcripts, congressional testimony, and private correspondence, Shawn Peters's "When Bad Men Combine" provides a first-ever glimpse into a uniquely tumultuous period in American political history. Comprehensively tracking the trajectory of the Star Route scandal, he reveals how modern politics emerged, in fits and starts, from the enormous upheaval wrought by the Civil War and Reconstruction. One crucial change came occurred in government itself. A dizzying and seemingly nonstop succession of scandals plagued American politics in the 1870s. The "era of good stealings," as one historian has dubbed it, featured numerous infamous examples of federal officials abusing their positions to enrich themselves and their allies. The Star Route case was, in some respects, the final straw for those who believed that the time had come for a system grounded in avarice and political patronage to be replaced by one based on merit, competence, and a commitment to the core principles of good government. As Peters shows, it was no coincidence that President Arthur signed the landmark Pendleton Civil Service Act into law in the middle of the second Star Route trial"--