They appointed to office the men whom the "Bosses" selected.

They passed the measures which the machine demanded.

In this way the professional politician gradually obtained a stock of political goods wherewith to maintain and increase his power.
Reenforced by the introduction of the spoils system first into the state and then into the Federal civil services, a process of local political organization began after 1830 to make rapid headway.

Local leaders appeared in different parts of the country who little by little relieved the farmer and the business man of the cares and preoccupations of government.

In the beginning the most efficient of these politicians were usually Jacksonian Democrats, and they ruled both in the name of the people and by virtue of a sturdy popular following.