guiteau had volunteered for garfield's 1880 campaign.some pamphlets and donated some money. and after garfield won, guiteau, perhaps overestimating his contributions to the campaign, assumed that he would be in line for a plum diplomatic post, and when the garfield administration rejected that request, guiteau resorted to violence. chester a arthur who was garfield's vice president, then assumed the presidency. after garfield's assassination. arthur had been a staunch supporter of the spoils system, but even he was so horrified by garfield's assassination that he changed his tune. in 1883, president arthur signed the pendleton act, which established a professional civil service and required employees to be hired based on competency tests and merit. initially, the act only covered a small percentage of federal jobs, but over time its scope grew. since then, the civil service has been increasingly professionalized, and as importantly, it has been increasingly insulated from politics. that is, until now. on day one of his second term, donal