听力文本

The issue somebody called the spoiled system which again, close associated with the Grant Administration
有人将这种行为称为分肥制，这种制度在格兰特政权下产生
but the system were those who supported the party would end up getting, if they wanted, government jobs, often in the post office
该制度下获胜党的支持者在大选后会获得在政府工作的职位，他们常被分配到邮局等部门
US government, federal government was not very large at this time, but it did have some positions sinecure that it can grant
当时美国的联邦政府虽然并不是规模非常庞大，但也有能力提供一些挂名差事
And people often became highly involved in politics, because they wanted those sort of positions
这种腐败制度使平民也开始关注政治，因为他们觊觎那些可能得到的闲职
and this really brought to the forward the need for civil service reform
这种腐败使得行政部门改革更为迫切
and again Mark Twain was vehement on this subject, Writing about
马克·吐温正是这场改革的热切推动者，他通过写作
how can we hire people to run our government departments serve an foreign embassy abroad who have no skill in this area
质疑政府部门聘用美国驻外国使馆的工作人员不看重任何相关工作技巧

who were chosen strictly on political grounds
而看重其政治倾向或背景
So that became a real focus, and it was a real focus in the next election
这使得行政腐败成为焦点，成为下一届大选的改革重点
Pitting James G. Blain of Maine and Grover Cleveland also of New York of Republican
这场大选在来自缅因的布莱恩和来自纽约的民主党人克里弗兰之间展开
Blain had been the real leader of the half-breeds of the reformers, but he was not spotless himself
布莱恩是共和党改革运动的领袖，但他本人却没做的廉洁自律
There was some evidence that he had been involved in some shady deals with a railroad in Arkansas
有证据证明他曾参与过阿肯色铁路工程中的黑幕交易
Certainly that's what the Democrats accused him of, and they were chants as I said before
民主党人死死揪着他这条辫子，将这件事编成我说过的竞选歌谣
"Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, continental liar from the state of Maine"
“布莱恩，布莱恩，詹姆斯布莱恩”，“缅恩来的大骗子”

视频及简介

这一集大致讲述了1920－1972年总统大选的历史与过程，主要以一战、1929大萧条、二战、美苏冷战为历史背景，穿插了西奥多罗斯福，富兰克林罗斯福，杜鲁门，肯尼迪等几位著名美国总统的竞选和执政经历。