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POLITICAL SHAKEUPS AT THE U.S. MINTS
Bob Neale submitted these thoughts on political shakeups at the U.S. Mints.
-Editor
In last week's review of Gold in His Veins: The Story of John Daggett, Dave Lange wrote:
Daggett set about replacing mint employees with loyal party Democrats. The openness with which this was done is astonishing to readers today, though it appears to have been the norm in a time when every position was held by political appointment.
The above from David Lange's comments reminds one of the situation that accounted for the stoppage of coin production at the Carson City Mint between 1885-89. President Cleveland, in his first term, fired all the employees of the mint who were Republicans and presumably unsupportive of the (dimensionally) great man. Coinage resumed once Republican Benjamin Harrison replaced Cleveland and then his Democrat place holders at the mint. And so Cleveland got to do it all over again in the San Francisco Mint during his second term. I guess Grover gets points for consistency, if nothing else.
Frankly, a lot of us thought Republican Bush's appointee Moy would be toast as U.S. Mint Director with the incoming Democratic Obama administration, but he's still there, presiding over one new coin design unveiling party after another. When was the last time there was a big turnover of managers or employees directly tied to politics?
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
BOOK REVIEW: GOLD IN HIS VEINS: THE STORY OF JOHN DAGGETT
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