Why did Garfield's assassination make civil service reform more urgent? Since the US was at war, the new president couldn't afford to take the time to appoint many civil servants, so they needed to reform the system. He was shot by a man who was denied job due to the spoils system. Garfield was against reforming the civil service, but the new president supported it, so Congress needed to push the legislation in a short time. Since Garfield had signed the bill, it had to be implemented within 6 months of his death.