In the United States, the civil service was established in 1872. In the early 19th century, government jobs were held at the pleasure of the president—a person could be fired at any time and jobs were used to support the political parties. This was changed in slow stages and by 1909 two-thirds of the U.S. federal work force was appointed based on merit. Now civil servants are not allowed to engage in political activities while performing their duties. Employees in the civil services work under one of the independent agencies or one of the 15 executive departments. In addition to departments, there is a number of organizations grouped into the Executive Office of the President. The Federal Government, excluding the Postal Service and soldiers, employs now about 2 million civilian workers. The Federal Government is the nation’s largest employer. There are over 1,300 federal government agencies. Although most federal agencies are based in the Washington, D.C. region, only about 16% (or about 288,000) of the federal government workforce is employed in this region.