Before the Hatch Act

Today's post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Research Services at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

All U.S. Government employees are, or should be, familiar with the provisions of the Hatch Act. Enacted in 1939, and amended several times since, the Hatch Act (formally titled "AN ACT To prevent pernicious political activities") limits certain political activities of federal employees. ​The law was enacted to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.​​​​ ​​ The law also covers some state, local, and nonprofit organization employees in certain circumstances.

Who is covered and what the prohibitions are is somewhat complex. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel website on the Hatch Act is the place to go if you want more information.

The Hatch Act is widely considered to be the beginning of political restrictions upon U.S. Government employees. There were, however, such restrictions in place as early as 1883, although focused primarily on the raising of contributions in the workplace.

Some examples of the directives given to employees of the Department of State include an October 1900 memorandum of the Chief Clerk, then a senior official in the Department, that noted "The civil service act of January 16, 1883, makes political assessments of federal officers and employees a misdemeanor." It then quotes several sections of the law, most notably section 2, paragraph 2, clause 5:

That no person in the public service is for that reason under any obligation to contribute to any political fund, or to render any political service, and that he will not be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing to do so.

The memorandum also includes the following concerning partisan activity by employees.

In October 1902 and October 1904, Secretary of State John Hay distributed the following notice:

Direction came from a higher level, too. For example, in June 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the following Executive Order, one of several on this subject over the years.

The files of the Department of State and other government agencies contain additional examples of the guidance relating to political and partisan activity provided to federal employees.

Document Source: All documents come from file number 11200 in the Numerical File (NAID 654171), part of RG 59: General Records of the Department of State. That file is online at beginning with frame 569.

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