Editing George H. Pendleton (section)

===Political comeback===
In 1879, he made his comeback when he was elected as a Democrat to the [[United States Senate]]. During his only term, from 1881 to 1885, he served concurrently as the [[Democratic Conference Chairman of the United States Senate|Chairman of the Democratic Conference]]. Following the 1881 assassination of [[James A. Garfield]], he passed his most notable legislation, known as the [[Pendleton Act]] of 1883, requiring civil service exams for government positions. The Act helped put an end to the system of [[patronage]] in widespread use at the time, but it cost Pendleton politically, as many members of his own party preferred the spoils system. He was thus not renominated to the Senate.<ref name="GHPbioguide"/>