Episode 888: The First Shutdown

Enlarge this image toggle caption Mathew Brady/AP Mathew Brady/AP

The government is shut down again. Here at Planet Money, we wondered: just how long has this been going on? The answer is: It started a long time ago, but then it didn't happen again for nearly a hundred years.

Planet Money #888: The First Shutdown The First Shutdown Listen · 15:26 15:26

Today on the show, we go back in time to 1879. There was a fight between President Rutherford B. Hayes and Congress about African-Americans voting. It ended in the first ever government shutdown.

Music: "Hakoniwa," "Salmon Smash" and "Broke Me."

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