Frederick Malek Quotes

Every single administration in American political history has put cronies and pals and donors into political positions. But normally those people become the ambassador to Liechtenstein or the deputy undersecretary of commerce.

Usually, those persons closest to the incoming President will be the main leaders of the Transition effort. They are most familiar with his policies and practices, and are able to interpret his wishes regarding the structure and staffing of the new Administration.

The greatest beggar and the most troublesome of all the office seekers during my Administration was General Harrison.

A President cannot call men from all parts of the country during the time between his nomination and his election, seek their advice, their counsel, their service, their cooperation in his personal behalf and in behalf of the party ... and also tell them in the same breath, to see the Secretary of War, the Attorney General and the Postmaster General about a presidential nomination.

A mistake to be avoided is to appoint all your campaign operatives to government jobs. Campaigning and governing are different specialties.

Whenever I form a ministry, the Carleton Club was like the Zoological Gardens at feeding time.

Let me control personnel, and I will ultimately control policy.

There can be no complete and permanent reform of the civil service until public opinion emancipates congressmen from all control and influence over government patronage ... No proper legislation is to be expected as long as members of Congress are engaged in procuring offices for their constituents

If I cannot find qualified Republicans, I am going to appoint Democrats.

I was circulating around briefing these guys. Starting with Mitchell, and Haldeman, and [domestic policy adviser] John Ehrlichman, and all the guys. Just sort of circulating around with a briefcase. I cobbled together a briefing of a sort that would do the trick. And introduced them to technical systems of one kind or another.

In politics there are very few self-made men—most are machine-made.

[Martin] Van Buren says he considers it as a misfortune when any office to be filled by him becomes vacant, and thinks patronage rather a burden than a benefit.

No man who ever held the office of President would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. He will make one man ungrateful, and a hundred men his enemies, for every office he can bestow.

I am not in Washington as a statesman. I am there as a very well paid messenger boy doing your errands. My chief occupation is going around with a forked stick picking up little fragments of patronage for my constituents.

Throughout most of Chicago's history, the Civil Service Commission has been enmeshed in partisan politics. Thousands of city employees were given temporary appointments and kept in this status, year after year, in order to keep them loyal partisan political workers.

I favor putting the responsibility for the dispensing of patronage squarely on the organizations [parties]. Let the organizations be held strictly accountable for the endorsements. After the appointment is made the appointee ought to fit the job, so that the appointing power can rest assured that the work entrusted to him will be done right.

When you buy a Presidential candidate, you buy his party and you buy 20,000 appointees you never heard of.

Mr. Roosevelt, when you are in Washington as long as I have been, you will learn that the President of the United States calls on nobody.

Public confidence should govern political appointments.

In appointments to office the government refuses to know any difference between descriptions of republicans…

I had been in the administration long enough to know that Cabinet rank meant nothing.

What we called the Civil Service was, in the main, merely a mass of Republican political appointees frozen into office by act of Congress.

I would rather have my fate in the hands of 23 representative citizens of the county [the grand jury] than in the hands of a politically appointed judge.

Not one man recommended by me has yet been appointed to any thing, little or big, except a few who had no opposition.

The appointment of subordinates or the nominations for appointments are just as much a part of our [congress's] responsibility as any other which we have, and a share in those appointments ... is one of the recognized rights of the people.