When Bad Men Combine - by Shawn Francis Peters (Hardcover)

About the Book

"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"--

Book Synopsis

The Star Route scandal captured the nation's attention for more than a decade, with newspapers throughout the United States characterizing it as an unprecedented case of Gilded Age graft. Shawn Francis Peters's When Bad Men Combine provides a glimpse into this uniquely tumultuous period marked by brazen greed and duplicity. In the first book to offer a full recounting of the Star Route maelstrom, which roiled American politics during the 1870s and 1880s, Peters reveals how postal service corruption resulted in a remarkable legal case that featured jury bribery and document theft. When Bad Men Combine follows the saga to its culmination as two sensational criminal trials presented evidence implicating some of the most prominent men in America and, perhaps, led to the assassination of President James Garfield.

Review Quotes

"Combining sharp analysis with the skills of a storyteller, Peters explains the deep linkage between spoilsmen and postal services during the 1870s and 1880s. When Bad Men Combine reminds us that the biggest scandals unfold over decades, not weeks or even years, by shaking the very foundations of the party system itself."--Jeffrey D. Broxmeyer, author of Electoral Capitalism: The Party System in New York's Gilded Age

"In this crisply written and important book, Peters tells the story of the dogged federal prosecutors who sought to bring to justice the conspirators of the infamous Star Route bid-rigging ring who bilked millions from the United States Post Office. An evocative legal tale of Gilded Age corruption."--Michael A. Ross, author of The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era

"Like a detective on a cold case, Peters unravels a tangled web of unscrupulous contractors and crooked politicians who helped make this one of the most corrupt eras in American history."--Cameron Blevins, author of Paper Trails: The US Post and the Making of the American West

"Shawn Francis Peters's narrative of the Star Route frauds is at least a hundred years overdue. Casual readers, as well as professionals in the field, will deem it well worth the wait."--Mark Wahlgren Summers, author of The Era of Good Stealings

About the Author

Shawn Francis Peters is an instructor at the Center for Educational Opportunity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also earned a PhD in United States history. He is the author of six books, including The Infamous Harry Hayward: A True Account of Murder and Mesmerism in Gilded Age Minneapolis.