Former President Barack Obama says the federal government is less corrupt than at virtually any point in American history when measured by traditional forms of political corruption such as bribery, patronage, and favor-trading.
Obama made the argument during the third episode of his new Audible series, “A Great Book with Barack Obama,” which premiered Thursday through his Higher Ground production company.
“People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than it’s probably ever been, in terms of just pure bribes, or patronage or favors,” Obama said.
The former president observed a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore about Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel “All the King’s Men.”
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows the political rise and eventual downfall of Willie Stark, a fictional Southern governor whose career becomes increasingly consumed by corruption and the ruthless exercise of political power.
Obama used the book as a starting point for discussing how American politics has changed since the era when political machines routinely relied on government jobs, personal favors and other benefits to maintain power and assemble legislative coalitions.
He specifically pointed to the political environment surrounding former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
“It was interesting, as I was coming up through the state legislature, and then Congress and the presidency — you mentioned Lyndon Johnson, part of the reason that kind of cornering folks and hustling them for votes worked, it wasn’t just physical intimidation,” Obama said.
“It was like, ‘What do you need?’”
Obama argued that reforms enacted before and after the Watergate scandal dramatically reduced the ability of political leaders to operate those patronage systems.
“Part of what was interesting is that a lot of reforms that we think of as positive — pre-Watergate, post-Watergate — eliminated or greatly reduced the possibilities of maintaining those old political machines, and trading votes and doing favors,” Obama said.
But he suggested those reforms also produced an unintended consequence.
The same political tools that could be corrupt, Obama argued, sometimes allowed congressional leaders to negotiate compromises and persuade lawmakers with sharply different political views to support legislation.
“It’s part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication … to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there,” Obama said.
Obama’s assessment comes as Americans express extraordinarily negative views about corruption in government.
A Gallup survey released Sept. 2 found that 89% of U.S. adults believe corruption is widespread throughout government.
That is the highest percentage Gallup has recorded since it began tracking the question two decades ago.
The figure increased 10 percentage points from 2025 and stands significantly above the 72% to 79% range recorded between 2010 and 2025.
Concern also appears to be politically motivated. Gallup found that 91% of Democrats believe government corruption is widespread. The Democratic number represents a particularly dramatic shift. Only 57% of Democrats expressed that view during former President Joe Biden’s final year in office.
Currently, according to the same survey, 83% of Republicans believe corruption is widespread.
The contrast between Obama’s remarks and Gallup’s findings is striking, but the two are measuring different things.
Obama specifically limited his observation to what he called “pure bribes,” patronage and personal favors — the traditional transactional corruption associated with earlier American political machines.
Gallup asked Americans whether they believe corruption throughout government is widespread, a considerably broader question that captures public perceptions rather than documented instances of bribery.
Other polling nevertheless shows that confidence in Washington remains near historic lows.
Pew Research Center reported late last year that just 17% of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time.”
Only 2% said they trusted Washington just about always.
Public trust has declined dramatically from the late 1950s and early 1960s, when roughly three-quarters of Americans said they trusted the federal government most or nearly all of the time.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
