Question: The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to general officer or flag officer ranks in the U.S. Armed Forces, It was created in 1979 by Kristine Marcy when the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 went into effect under President Jimmy Carter, James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to which year?
Context: The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (ch.  27, 22 Stat.  403 ) is a United States federal law, enacted in 1883, which established that positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political affiliation.  The act provided selection of government employees by competitive exams, rather than ties to politicians or political affiliation.  It also made it illegal to fire or demote government officials for political reasons and prohibited soliciting campaign donations on Federal government property.  To enforce the merit system and the judicial system, the law also created the United States Civil Service Commission.  This board would be in charge of determining the rules and regulations of the act.  The Act also allowed for the president, by executive order to decide which positions could be subject to the act and which would not.  A crucial result was the shift of the parties to reliance on funding from business, since they could no longer depend on patronage hopefuls. Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 21st President of the United States (1881–85); he succeeded James A. Garfield upon the latter's assassination.  At the outset, Arthur struggled to overcome a slightly negative reputation, which stemmed from his early career in politics as part of New York's Republican political machine.  He succeeded by embracing the cause of civil service reform.  His advocacy for, and subsequent enforcement of, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was the centerpiece of his administration. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, (October 13, 1978, Pub.L.  95–454, 92 Stat.  1111) (CSRA), reformed the civil service of the United States federal government, partly in response to the Watergate scandal.  The Act abolished the U.S. Civil Service Commission and distributed its functions primarily among three new agencies: the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). The National Civil Service Reform League was a non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1881 for the purpose of investigating the efficiency of the civil service.  Among its founders were George William Curtis, chairman of the first United States Civil Service Commission, and Dorman B. Eaton, principal author of the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) and first chairman of the reconstituted commission.  Largely through its influence many important civil service measures were passed.  During World War I, its work was especially valuable in securing civil service efficiency as a factor in military success.  After the signing of the armistice in November 1918, the League effected an investigation into the sources of inefficiency in the civil service at Washington, and recommended the reorganization of the Civil Service Commission. The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).  OSC's primary mission is the safeguarding of the merit system in federal employment by protecting employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices (PPPs), especially reprisal for "whistleblowing."  The agency also operates a secure channel for federal whistleblower disclosures of violations of law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; abuse of authority; and substantial and specific danger to public health and safety.  In addition, OSC issues advice on the Hatch Act and enforces its restrictions on partisan political activity by government employees.  Finally, OSC protects the civilian employment and reemployment rights of military service members under USERRA.  OSC has around 120 staff, and the Special Counsel is an ex officio member of Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an association of Inspectors General charged with the regulation of good governance within the federal government. The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a position classification in the civil service of the United States federal government, somewhat analogous to general officer or flag officer ranks in the U.S. Armed Forces.  It was created in 1979 by Kristine Marcy when the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 went into effect under President Jimmy Carter. James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981.  A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the Governor of Georgia prior to his election as president.  Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Carter Center. Roger W. Jones (February 3, 1908May 28, 1993) was a United States government official that served seven United States Presidents in various capacities, including Deputy Secretary of State under President John F. Kennedy.  During his 43 years of service in the United States federal government, he also served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, and was awarded the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service and the National Civil Service Reform League Award. Jacob Dolson Cox, (Jr.) (October 27, 1828August 4, 1900) was a statesman, lawyer, Union Army general during the American Civil War, and later a Republican politician from Ohio.  He served as the 28th Governor of Ohio and as United States Secretary of the Interior.  As Governor of Ohio, Cox sided for a time with President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan and was against African American suffrage in the South, though he supported it in Ohio.  Seeing himself caught between Johnson and the Radical Republicans, Cox decided not to run for reelection.  He stayed out of politics for a year, though both Sherman and Grant advocated that Cox replace Stanton as Secretary of War as a means of stemming the demands for Johnson's impeachment.  But Johnson declined.  When Ulysses S. Grant became President he nominated Cox Secretary of Interior and Cox immediately accepted.  Secretary of Interior Cox implemented the first civil service reform in a federal government department, including examinations for most clerks.  Grant initially supported Cox and civil service reform, creating America's first Civil Service Commission.  However, Cox was opposed by Republican Party managers, who ultimately convinced Grant to cease civil service reforms.  President Grant and Secretary Cox were at odds over the fraudulent McGarahan Claims and the Dominican Republic annexation treaty.  Secretary Cox advocated a lasting, honest, and comprehensive Indian policy legislated by Congress after the Piegan Indian massacre.  Cox resigned as Secretary of Interior having been unable to gain Grant's support over civil service reform.  Although Cox was a reformer, Grant had believed Cox had overstepped his authority as Secretary of Interior and had undermined his authority as President.  In 1872 Cox joined the Liberal Republicans in opposition to Grant's renomination.  In 1876 Cox returned to politics and was elected to and served one term as United States Congressman of Ohio.  Congressman Cox supported President Hayes's reform efforts, but his term as Congressman was unsuccessful at establishing permanent Civil Service reform.  Cox retired and did not return to active politics, using his time to write several books on Civil War campaigns which remain today respected histories and memoirs. The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships.  In 1979, it was dissolved as part of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978; the Office of Personnel Management and the Merit Systems Protection Board are the successor agencies.
Answer: 1981