For example, people in other countries pay bribes daily. Were there ever times in the US where this was a norm also?
Edit: If you only have knowledge on a certain period I would welcome that information as well.
It would be helpful to clarify your questions. Corruption is defined as 'dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.' This often leads to a de jure interpretation. Clear cut corruption. For example, a businessman giving a politician a bag of money and that politician carrying out the businessman's bidding. By comparison a de facto interpretation would look at other kinds of transactions and overall voting patterns. De jure may tend to underestimate and de facto overestimate, so a framework may be helpful.