Obama argued that reforms that reduced patronage and other forms of political dealing also stripped away some of the transactional tools lawmakers once used to build coalitions.

He pointed to former President Lyndon B. Johnson's era, saying reforms before and after Watergate "eliminated or greatly reduced" the ability of political machines to trade votes and favors. "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," he said.

Reality check: Obama was talking specifically about bribery, patronage and favors. Polls asking Americans whether government corruption is "widespread" capture a much broader perception, making the two measures difficult to compare.