Teddy Roosevelt said, “Government jobs belong to the American people, not politicians, and shall be filled only with regard to public service.” Roosevelt’s enthusiasm for civil service led President Benjamin Harrison to appoint him the first commissioner of U.S. Civil Service Commission—a predecessor to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). “Many people,” notes Kay Ely, associate director, Human Resources Products & Services Division at OPM, “still think of OPM as the Civil Service Commission. It actually became OPM in January 1979 with the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act.” OPM’s mission is to ensure the federal government has an effective civilian workforce. “It ensures,” says Ely, “federal agencies adopt strategies that produce a workforce capable of delivering the services that the American people want and deserve. OPM helps agencies train, manage and maintain the infrastructure needed to employ a federal workforce prepared to achieve the president’s strategic goals for the nation.”