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Chester A. Arthur

 
Who2 Biography: Chester A. Arthur, U.S. President
Chester A. Arthur
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  • Born: 5 October 1830
  • Birthplace: Fairfield, Vermont
  • Died: 18 November 1886 (cerebral hemorrhage)
  • Best Known As: President of the United States, 1881-1885

Vice President Chester Alan Arthur became President on September 20, 1881, after the death of President James Garfield. Trained as a lawyer, Arthur had been a leader in Republican party politics (he helped to secure the nomination of U.S. Grant in 1868). Arthur had a respectable administration whose primary achievement was civil service reform, notable because of his previous reputation for cronyism. He lost a bid for reelection in 1884 to Democrat Grover Cleveland. Arthur, who suffered from Bright's disease and hypertension, returned the the practice of law as his health failed. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1886.

Arthur's wife, Ellen "Nell" Arthur, died of pneumonia just 10 months before he became Vice President... He was the 21st president... Arthur was the first president born in Vermont... In 1881 there were three presidents in one year: Rutherford B. Hayes ended his term 3 March 1881; James Garfield was inaugurated the next day and died 19 September 1881; Arthur took the oath of office 20 September 1881.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Chester Alan Arthur
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(born Oct. 5, 1829, North Fairfield, Vt., U.S. — died Nov. 18, 1886, New York, N.Y) 21st president of the U.S. (1881 – 85). He practiced law in New York City from 1854, later becoming a close associate of Sen. Roscoe Conkling, the Republican boss of New York. With Conkling's backing, he was appointed customs collector for the port of New York (1871 – 78), an office long known for its use of the spoils system. He conducted the business of the office with integrity but continued to pad its payroll with Conkling loyalists. At the Republican national convention in 1880, Arthur was the compromise choice for vice president on a ticket with James Garfield; he became president on Garfield's assassination. As president, Arthur displayed unexpected independence by vetoing measures that rewarded political patronage. He also signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which created a civil-service system based on merit. He and his navy secretary recommended appropriations that later helped transform the U.S. Navy into one of the world's great fleets. He failed to win his party's nomination for a second term.

For more information on Chester Alan Arthur, visit Britannica.com.

American Theater Guide: Beatrice Arthur
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Arthur, Beatrice [neé Frankel] (b. 1926), character actress. A native New Yorker, she was educated at Blackstone College and the Franklin Institute of Science and Arts, and studied acting with Erwin Piscator at the New School for Social Research. Arthur made her professional debut Off Broadway in 1947 and appeared in many classic productions before being noticed in 1954 as the sarcastic Lucy Brown in the legendary revival of The Threepenny Opera. In the 1960s she won further praise for playing the village matchmaker Yente in Fiddler on the Roof (1964) and the acerbic actress Vera Charles in Mame (1966). The tall, throaty‐voiced, sharp‐tongued actress became one of America's favorite comediennes because of her television work, then she returned to Broadway after twenty years with her one‐woman show Just Between Friends (2002).

US Military Dictionary: Chester Alan Arthur
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Arthur, Chester Alan (1829-86) 21st president of the United States (1881-85); born in Fairfield, Vermont. Vice president under James A. Garfield, Arthur took office upon Garfield's assassination (1881). Arthur endorsed creation of a modern navy and signed two bills authorizing construction of the nation's first steel ships. He was denied Republican renomination in 1884.

In the Civil War, Brig. Gen. Arthur was appointed acting quartermaster general of New York, given the complex task of feeding, housing, clothing, and equipping thousands of troops pouring into New York City on their way to combat.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Biography: Chester Alan Arthur
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The twenty-first president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur (1830-1886) was reputed to be one of the leading spoilsmen in American politics when he took office, but he proved to be a dignified and an able administrator.

Political enemies claimed that Chester A. Arthur was Canadian-born and therefore ineligible to be president of the United States. Arthur himself never replied to the charges and said that he was born on Oct. 5, 1830, in Fairfield, Vt., the eldest of seven children of a Scotch-Irish Baptist minister. He was educated at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., taught school, and studied law. Moving to New York City, he built up a successful law practice and became interested in Republican party politics.

Arthur rose steadily, if undramatically, in the Republican party by virtue of his willingness to perform the less exciting labors necessary to building a new political movement. New York City was slipping into the clutches of the Democratic party machine of William Marcy Tweed during the Civil War, but Arthur moved up steadily as the protégé of the state's governor. He served as engineer in chief, inspector general, and quartermaster general of New York, raising, equipping, and dispatching state troops for the Federal government. In 1863, when the Republicans were turned out of office, he stepped aside for a Democratic successor. By unanimous agreement he had been an excellent administrator.

Arthur as a Spoilsman

As a reward for his work for the party, in November 1871 President U.S. Grant named Arthur to be collector of customs for the Port of New York. In an>age when political parties functioned almost primarily for patronage - the jobs and other "spoils" which accrued to the party in power - Arthur possessed one of the most powerful and lucrative positions in the patronage apparatus by the time he was 41. As collector, he supervised more than 1000 employees, and many of these were troops in the New York State Republican machine. Arthur helped oversee the distribution of the jobs and, at election time, supervised the collection of "assessments" - contributions to Republican campaign funds which were virtually a requirement for holding a Federal job. The Customs House was no stranger to graft but Arthur himself was honest. He once said that "if I had misappropriated five cents, and on walking down-town saw two men talking on the street together, I would imagine they were talking of my dishonesty and the very thought would drive me mad."

In a sense, corruption would have been superfluous. Arthur was paid by a fee of one-half of all monies he recovered for the government from importers misrepresenting what they owed. In one famous case Arthur and two other officials divided $135,000. His pay generally ran to $40,000 a year until 1874, when his salary was set at $12,000.

Not all of this money stayed in Arthur's bank account. Like all political appointees, he was expected to make large donations to the party. These expenditures earned Arthur a prominent place in New York State's patronage-oriented Republican party. With Alonzo Cornell and Levi Morton, he stood second only to Roscoe Conkling in the control of New York's powerful political organization. His reputation among reformers was disgraceful but, until 1880, he could afford to ignore any pressures but Conkling's.

Arthur's nicknames - "the Gentleman Boss," "the Elegant Arthur," - indicate the figure he cut. Over 6 feet tall, stoutly built according to the specifications of the times, with a wavy moustache and bushy sidewhiskers, he dressed in fine, fashionable clothing. He was exquisitely urbane, dining well, drinking the best wines and brandies, and entertaining on a grand scale. None of this was extraordinary in middle-class New York City, but it made for a stunning contrast to the conservatively clothed and morally straitlaced Midwestern Republican politicians among whom he moved in Washington.

Accidental President

In 1880 Republicans divided sharply and bitterly over the nomination of a presidential candidate. The two principal hopefuls were former president U.S. Grant (Conkling and Arthur were among his chief advocates) and James G. Blaine. The deadlocked convention resolved the issue only by turning to a dark-horse candidate, James A. Garfield of Ohio. Conkling, the leader of the pro-Grant faction, was furious - for Garfield was friendlier to Blaine than himself - and he insisted that Levi Morton decline the offered vice-presidential nomination. Arthur was the Garfield group's second vice-presidential choice and, though Conkling remained adamant, Arthur accepted. Arthur continued to pay court to Conkling, however, even after the election had made him vice president of the United States. In fact, Arthur was in Albany, lobbying for Conkling's reelection, when news arrived that President Garfield had been shot in Washington by a deranged man who claimed he did it in order to make Arthur president. Garfield died on Sept. 19, 1881, and Arthur became president.

Historians tend to agree that Arthur was a much better president than anyone expected. He seemed sensitive to the dignity of his office, and, while he continued to send most patronage to his old allies, he generally extricated himself from their society. Though he offered Conkling a seat on the Supreme Court, he left one of Conkling's old enemies in the Customs House. Republicans on the side of reform were chagrined at this new president, but Arthur could be surprising. He even supported and signed a landmark civil service bill (providing, among other things, for examinations as a prerequisite to holding some government jobs), and he permitted an investigation of post office frauds, which implicated several cronies.

Arthur remained what he had always been, a good administrator. But, as H. Wayne Morgan (1969) points out, "Arthur liked the appearance of power more than its substance." He designed a flag for himself, relished military ceremonies, refurbished the shabby White House, and presented a perfect presidential appearance. He took little initiative in the significant events of his term, such as the Pendleton Civil Service Act and the construction of a modern navy.

Unfortunately for Arthur's political future (he would have liked to be reelected in 1884), he had alienated old supporters without winning over old enemies. In 1884 he had no real strength at the Republican Convention and was quietly shelved. He died in 1886. He had not inspired his contemporaries, and, though his biographers have been friendly, he has not inspired them either.

Further Reading

There are several biographies of Arthur, none of particular distinction. A standard account is George F. Howe, Chester A. Arthur: A Quarter-century of Machine Politics (1934). Matthew Josephson, The Politicos: 1865-1896 (1938), is a highly readable, if sometimes inaccurate, history of 19th-century politics. H. Wayne Morgan, From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics (1969), updates Josephson's work and includes brief, incisive portraits of Arthur and other leading personalities of the era.

US Government Guide: Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President
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Born: Oct. 5, 1829, Fairfield, Vt. (or Waterville, N. Y.)
Political party: Republican
Education: Union College, B.A., 1848; read law in New York City, 1853
Military service: quartermaster general and brigadier general of New York, 1861–62
Previous government service: collector of the Port of New York, 1871–78; Vice President, 1881
Succeeded to Presidency, 1881; served, 1881–85
Died: Nov. 18, 1886, New York, N.Y.

Chester Alan Arthur was a loyal follower of the corrupt Conkling political machine, or organization, in New York State who owed his political positions to connections and party loyalty. Ironically, it was this machine politician who, as President, presided over the creation of the first merit system for the civil service, or government employees.

Arthur was the son of a clergyman. After graduating from Union College he taught school briefly, then studied law. His law practice involved several cases in which he defended fugitive slaves and other African Americans. He obtained a large financial settlement for a black woman named Lizzie Jennings who had been put off a horsecar (a bus pulled by horses) in New York City because of her race. He served in the Civil War as a general of the New York volunteer troops.

Arthur became active in New York State Republican politics in an era of spoils—the awarding of jobs according to political connections—and corruption. He was named collector of the Port of New York by President Ulysses S. Grant, a position in which he dominated patronage in New York on behalf of Senator Roscoe Conkling. He controlled 1,000 jobs, which he gave to party regulars. President Rutherford B. Hayes forced him out as a reform measure.

At the Republican convention of 1880 Arthur was one of the leading Stalwarts supporting Ulysses Grant's third-term bid. After James G. Blaine's Half-Breed wing of the party (so-called because their opponents did not consider them “real” Republicans but quasi-Democrats) helped James Garfield win the nomination, Arthur was put on the ticket to regain the support of the Stalwart faction.

As Vice President, Arthur could cast the deciding vote in the Senate, which was sometimes deadlocked on straight-party votes because there were 37 Democrats op-posed by an equal number of Republicans. When President Garfield appointed someone to the post of collector of New York without consulting Arthur, the two men had a parting of the ways. Although Arthur had always been a political hack, upon succeeding to the Presidency after Garfield's assassination in 1881, he promised that he would avoid the excesses of patronage appointments that had marked his career. He overhauled the cabinet entirely, replacing all but one of Garfield's secretaries with his own. He took action against fraud in the post office. His first message to Congress called for the creation of a civil service system, and over the opposition of his Stalwart colleagues he strongly supported the Pendleton Act of 1883, which created a civil service commission and began the principle of hiring on merit rather than party affiliation. He classified 14,000 federal positions, 10 percent of the total, as subject to the merit system. He vetoed a large rivers and harbors bill that Republicans had passed. He also vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which would have kept workers from China out of the country for 20 years but then signed the measure when the exclusion was limited to 10 years.

Arthur is considered the father of the “steel navy," replacing the “floating washtubs” of the Civil War with modern, state-of-the-art steam warships. This program would give the United States the fifth largest navy in the world by the turn of the century. His major mistake was in foreign affairs, when he signed a treaty with Nicaragua to build a canal, in violation of an existing U.S. treaty with the British. The Senate refused to act on it, and President Grover Cleveland later withdrew it.“It would be hard to better President Arthur's administration” was Mark Twain's verdict. But Roscoe Conkling had broken with him over civil service reform and other issues, and Grant devoted his energies to blocking Arthur's bid for an elected term of his own. With the knowledge that he was dying of Bright's disease, Arthur did not put up much resistance to James G. Blaine's attempt to win the Republican nomination in 1884 Arthur returned to New York City to practice law but died soon after leaving office.

See also Garfield, James A.

Sources

  • Justin D. Doenecke, The Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1981).
  • George F. Howe, Chester A. Arthur (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1935)
US History Companion: Arthur, Chester A.
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(1829-1886), twenty-first president of the United States. Born in Vermont, Arthur graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and taught school before moving to New York City, where he was admitted to the bar in 1854.

An antislavery Whig, Arthur joined the Republican party at its birth. He was appointed engineer in chief on the New York governor's military staff in 1861 and then became quartermaster general of New York because of his honesty and efficiency. He served until the Republicans lost the governorship in 1862. After the Civil War, Arthur helped build Roscoe Conkling's political organization as collector of the Port of New York, where he was responsible for collecting two-thirds of the nation's tariff revenue. Arthur mastered the tariff laws and within the limits imposed by the spoils system brought some efficiency to the customhouse. Nevertheless, President Rutherford B. Hayes removed him from office in 1878, believing that partisan considerations were his central concern.

Out of office but not out of politics, Arthur became chairman of the New York Republican State Committee and in 1880 was nominated for the vice presidency to balance the ticket headed by James A. Garfield. The Republicans won the election, but after Garfield was assassinated, Arthur became president in September 1881.

To the surprise of his many detractors, Arthur was an able chief executive. In damning him as a mere machine politician, his critics ignored the fact that he was an intelligent man who had run the largest federal office in the country. Despite a tendency to procrastinate, Arthur grew in the presidency and was able to meet its demands. He never became a born-again civil service reformer, but preferred instead an efficient partisan government service to one selected by open competitive examinations. It took the Republican defeat in state and congressional elections in 1882 to induce him to support the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883), the most important legislation passed during his administration. Drawing on his expertise, Arthur condemned the existing tariff. But when he failed to convince Congress to make the 20 to 25 percent reduction his tariff commission advocated, he signed the aptly named "Mongrel" Tariff into law (1883). Arthur vetoed the outrageous pork-barrel rivers and harbors bill of 1882 (a thinly disguised raid on the Treasury), only to see Congress pass it over his veto. He signed legislation excluding Chinese laborers from the United States, supported appropriations to modernize the navy, and personally supervised a sumptuous refurbishing of the White House.

Arthur was a dandy in dress and a gourmand at the table, but he was neither happy nor healthy when president. He grieved over the death in 1880 of his wife and suffered the debilitating effects of Bright's disease, particularly after 1882. As part of his effort to hide his condition from the public, he did nothing to stop those striving to nominate him in 1884. Their efforts failed, however, partly because he lacked charisma and partly because he was too much of a spoils politician to win reform support, yet too sound an administrator to suit party regulars.

Bibliography:

Justus D. Doenecke, The Presidencies of James A. Garfield & Chester A. Arthur (1981); Thomas C. Reeves, Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur (1975).

Author:

Ari Hoogenboom

See also Chinese Exclusion Act; Civil Service Reform; Elections: 1880; Tariff.


 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Chester Alan Arthur
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Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-86, 21st President of the United States (1881-85), b. Fairfield, Vt. He studied law and before the Civil War practiced in New York City. In the war he was (1861-63) quartermaster general of New York State. In 1871, President Grant appointed him collector of the port of New York. Although Arthur was a loyal party man and a believer in the spoils system, he administered this office honestly and efficiently. President Hayes, bent on civil service reform, displaced Arthur in 1878, thus defying Senator Conkling and the New York Republican machine. At the Republican national convention of 1880, Garfield was nominated for President, and the Conkling "Stalwarts," who had supported Grant, were placated by the nomination of Arthur for Vice President. Garfield's assassination soon after his inauguration made Arthur President. He came into office handicapped by a record in machine politics and grave doubt as to his ability and integrity, but his administration proved honest, efficient, and dignified. He effectively supported the civil service reform act of 1883, vetoed a Chinese exclusion bill that violated a treaty with China, and vigorously prosecuted the Star Route trials, in which several prominent Republicans were found guilty of swindling the Post Office Department. Serious illness kept Arthur from actively seeking renomination in 1884.

Bibliography

See biography by T. C. Reeves (1975).

Wikipedia: Chester A. Arthur
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Chester A. Arthur

President Arthur in 1882 by Charles Milton Bell

In office
September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885
Vice President None
Preceded by James A. Garfield
Succeeded by Grover Cleveland

In office
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881
President James A. Garfield
Preceded by William A. Wheeler
Succeeded by Thomas A. Hendricks

Born October 5, 1829(1829-10-05)
Fairfield, Vermont
Died November 18, 1886 (aged 57)
New York, New York
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, niece of Matthew Fontaine Maury
Children William Lewis Herndon Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur II
Ellen Hansbrough Herndon Arthur
Alma mater Union College
Occupation Lawyer, Civil servant, Educator (Teacher)
Religion Episcopalian
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch Union Army
Rank Brigadier General
Unit New York Militia
Battles/wars American Civil War

Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 21st President of the United States. Arthur was a member of the Republican Party and worked as a lawyer before becoming the 20th Vice President under James Garfield. While Garfield was mortally wounded by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, he did not die until September 19, at which time Arthur was sworn in as president, serving until March 4, 1885.

Before entering elected politics, Arthur was a member of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and a political protégé of Roscoe Conkling, rising to Collector of the Port of New York, a position to which he was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. He was then removed by the succeeding president, Rutherford B. Hayes, in an effort to reform the patronage system in New York.

To the chagrin of the Stalwarts, the onetime Collector of the Port of New York became, as President, a champion of civil service reform. He avoided old political cronies and eventually alienated his old mentor Conkling. Public pressure, heightened by the assassination of Garfield, forced an unwieldy Congress to heed the President. Arthur's primary achievement was the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. The passage of this legislation earned Arthur the moniker "The Father of Civil Service" and a favorable reputation among historians.

Publisher Alexander K. McClure wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired… more generally respected." Author Mark Twain, deeply cynical about politicians, conceded, "It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration."[citation needed]

Contents

Early life and education

Chester Alan Arthur was the son of Northern Irish-born preacher William Arthur (born in Cullybackey, Ballymena, Ireland, United Kingdom) and Vermont-born Malvina Stone Arthur. Malvina's grandfather, Uriah Stone, fought for the Continental Army during the American Revolution and named his son, Malvina's father, George Washington Stone. Malvina's mother was part Native American.[1]:4 Arthur's father was a British-Irish citizen of Scottish descent, who naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1843.[2]

Arthur's restored ancestral home from the late 18th Century is in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. An interpretive center at the cottage tells the story of the Arthur family, and provides visitors with demonstrations of life in Ireland over the last 200 years.[3]

Most official references list Arthur as having been born in Fairfield in Franklin County, Vermont on October 5, 1829. However, some time in the 1870s Arthur changed it to 1830 to make himself seem a year younger.[1]:5[4] His father had initially migrated to Dunham, Lower Canada, where he and his wife at one point owned a farm about 15 miles (24 km) north of the U.S. border.[1]:4 There has long been speculation that the future president was actually born in Canada and that the family moved to Fairfield later. If Arthur had been born in Canada, some believe that he would not have been a natural-born citizen (interpreting the law to mean that to be a natural-born citizen one must be born on U.S. territory) and would thus have been constitutionally ineligible to serve as vice president or president. During the 1880 U.S. presidential election a New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, was hired to explore rumors of Arthur's foreign birth. Hinman alleged that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. When that story failed to take root Hinman came forth with a new story that Arthur was born in Canada. This claim also fell on deaf ears.[1]:202–203

Arthur spent some of his childhood years living in Perry, New York. One of Arthur's boyhood friends remembers Arthur's political abilities emerging at an early age:

When Chester was a boy, you might see him in the village street after a shower, watching the boys building a mud dam across the rivulet in the roadway. Pretty soon, he would be ordering this one to bring stones, another sticks, and others sod and mud to finish the dam; and they would all do his bidding without question. But he took good care not to get any of the dirt on his hands. (New York Evening Post, April 2, 1900)

Chester Arthur's Presidency was predicted by James Russel Webster, a Perry resident. A detailed account of this prediction is found in a self-written memorial for Webster.[5] An excerpt from Webster's memorial:

Chester Alan Arthur (c. 1859)

He first attended the Baptist church in Perry, the pastor there being "Elder Arthur", father of Chester A. Arthur. The latter was then a little boy, and Mr. Webster, once calling at his house, put upon his head of the lad, remarked, "this little boy may yet be President of the United States." Years after, calling at the White House, he related the circumstances to President Arthur, who replied that he well remembered the incident although the name of the man who thus predicted his future had long since passed from his memory; then standing up he added. "You may place your hand upon my head again."

He went to prep school at the academy in Union Village (now the village of Greenwich in southern Washington County NY), and then to the Lyceum, where he was known as Chet. During his time at Lyceum Arthur joined other young Whigs in support of Henry Clay and even participated in a melee against those opposed to Clay.[1]:8

Arthur attended Union College in 1845 where he studied the traditional classics. As a senior there in 1848, at age 18, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and president of the debate society. He often donned a green coat to show his support for the Fenian Brotherhood.[1]:8

While living outside of Hoosick Falls, New York, he went back to Union College and received his Master's degree in 1851.

Early career

Arthur became principal of North Pownal Academy in North Pownal, Vermont in 1849. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854 after attending State and National Law School in Ballston Spa, New York. Arthur commenced practice in New York City.

A champion of civil rights, Arthur was one of the attorneys who successfully represented Elizabeth Jennings Graham; her lawsuit, after being denied seating on a streetcar due to her race, contributed to the desegregation of New York City public transportation.[6] In the "Lemmon Slave Case", Arthur helped secure the 1860 decision that slaves being transferred to a slave state through New York would be emancipated.[7] Arthur also took an active part in the reorganization of the state militia.

During the American Civil War, Arthur served as acting quartermaster general of the state in 1861 and was widely praised for his service. He was later commissioned as Inspector General, and appointed quartermaster general with the rank of brigadier general and served until 1862. After the war, he resumed the practice of law in New York City. With the help of Arthur's patron and political boss Roscoe Conkling, Arthur was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Collector of the Port of New York from 1871 to 1878.

This was an extremely lucrative and powerful position at the time, and several of Arthur's predecessors had run afoul of the law while serving as collector. Honorable in his personal life and his public career, Arthur sided with the Stalwarts in the Republican Party, which firmly believed in the spoils system even as it was coming under vehement attack from reformers. He insisted upon honest administration of the Customs House but nevertheless staffed it with more employees than it really needed, retaining some for their loyalty as party workers rather than for their skill as public servants.

The 1880 election and vice presidency

A cartoon depicting President Rutherford B. Hayes kicking Arthur out of the New York Customs House.

In 1878, Grant's successor, Rutherford B. Hayes, attempted to reform the Customs House. He ousted Arthur, who resumed the practice of law in New York City. Conkling and his followers tried to win back power by the nomination of Grant for a third term at the 1880 Republican National Convention, but without success. Grant and James G. Blaine deadlocked, and after 36 ballots, the convention turned to dark horse James A. Garfield, a long time Congressman and General in the Civil War.

Knowing the election would be close, Garfield's people began asking a number of Stalwarts if they would accept the second spot. Levi P. Morton, on Conkling's advice, refused, but Arthur accepted, telling his furious leader, "This is a higher honor than I have ever dreamt of attaining. I shall accept!"[8] Conkling and his Stalwart supporters reluctantly accepted the nomination of Arthur as vice president. Arthur campaigned hard for his and Garfield's election, but it was a close contest, with the Garfield-Arthur ticket receiving a nationwide plurality of fewer than ten thousand votes.

After the election, Conkling began making demands of Garfield as to appointments, and the Vice President–elect supported his longtime patron against his new boss. According to Ira Rutkow's recent biography of Garfield, the new president disliked the vice president, and he would not let him into his house.

Then, on July 2, 1881, President Garfield was shot in the back by Charles J. Guiteau, who shouted: "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts... Arthur is president now!"[9] Arthur's shock at the assassination was augmented by his mortification at Guiteau's claim of political kinship. (Madmen and Geniuses, Barzman, 1974) Garfield initially survived the shooting, but due to a combination of infections and the poor medical care of the time, he gradually deteriorated and died on September 19.

On the threshold of office, what have we to expect of him?
In an 1881 Puck cartoon, Vice President Arthur faces the presidential cabinet (from left to right, Wayne MacVeagh, William Windom, James G. Blaine, Thomas Lemuel James, Samuel J. Kirkwood, Robert Todd Lincoln, William H. Hunt) after President James A. Garfield was fatally wounded by assassin Charles J. Guiteau. On the wall hang three portraits of (left to right) Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, and John Tyler, three other vice-presidents who succeeded to the presidency. A fourth frame hangs next to Johnson with no picture and a question mark underneath meant for Arthur's portrait.

Presidency 1881–1885

Arthur was aware of the factions and rivalries of the Republican Party, as well as the controversies of cronyism versus civil service reform. Entering the presidency, Arthur believed that the only way to garner the nation's approval was to be independent from both factions. Arthur was determined to go his own way once in the White House. He became a man of fashion in his manner of dress and in his associates; he was often seen with the elite of Washington, D.C., New York City, and Newport. To the indignation of the Stalwarts, the onetime Collector of the Port of New York became, as President, a champion of civil service reform.

Assumption of office

President Arthur took the oath of office twice. The first time was at his Lexington Avenue residence, when it was given just past midnight on September 20. The oath was given by New York Supreme Court justice John R. Brady. The second time was two days later after he returned to Washington. This time it was given in the Capitol by Chief Justice of the United States Morrison Waite. This was to avoid any dispute over whether the oath was valid if given by a state official. (A similar situation later occurred with Calvin Coolidge.)

Cabinet

Arthur requested that Garfield's cabinet and appointees delay their resignations until Congress convened in December.[1]:254 However, shortly after this request Treasury Secretary William Windom and Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh submitted their resignations. Ulysses S. Grant recommended John Jacob Astor III to be the new Treasury Secretary, but Arthur preferred Edwin D. Morgan. Morgan declined the offer twice, but Arthur submitted it to the Senate anyway, and Morgan was confirmed. Morgan, age 72, still refused. The cabinet position was then awarded to stalwart Charles J. Folger (October 27).[1]:254 MacVeagh's replacement, Benjamin Harris Brewster, another stalwart, was confirmed two months later.[1]:255

Although Secretary of State Blaine agreed to delay his resignation, he changed his mind in mid-October. Conkling felt he himself was the obvious choice to replace Blaine, but Arthur felt such nepotism would disgrace the presidency and selected Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, another stalwart, recommended by Grant.[1]:256

The next to resign was Postmaster General Thomas Lemuel James, whom Arthur had tried to renominate. Arthur nominated Timothy O. Howe, another stalwart and a long-time friend.[1]:257 For Secretary of the Navy, Arthur nominated William E. Chandler, a recommendation from Blaine which gave some factional balance to the administration. Grant, who had recommended Edward Fitzgerald Beale, was upset by the Chandler pick and never fully forgave Arthur for the offense.[1]:258

Robert Todd Lincoln as Secretary of War was the only member of the Garfield cabinet to continue under Arthur.[1]:259 He was the only member of Arthur's cabinet who was never replaced and served until the end of Arthur's term in 1885.

Domestic issues

Tariff

Acting independently of party dogma, Arthur also tried to lower tariff rates so the government would not be embarrassed by annual surpluses of revenue. Congress raised about as many rates as it trimmed, but Arthur signed the Tariff Act of 1883 anyway. Aggrieved Westerners and Southerners looked to the Democratic Party for redress, and the tariff began to emerge as a major political issue between the two parties.

Civil service reform

Known as Arthur's greatest achievement, in 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which established a bipartisan Civil Service Commission which forbade levying political assessments against officeholders and provided for a "classified system" that made certain government positions obtainable only through competitive written examinations. The system protected employees against removal for political reasons.

Civil rights

Chester Arthur signed the Edmunds Act that banned bigamists and polygamists from voting and holding office. The act was specifically enforced in Utah, a highly populated Mormon territory and establishes a five-man "Utah commission" to prevent bigamists and polygamists from voting.[10]

Arthur being administered the oath of office as President by Judge John R. Brady at his home in New York City after President Garfield's death, September 20, 1881.

The Arthur Administration enacted the first general Federal immigration law. Arthur approved a measure in 1882 excluding paupers, criminals, and the mentally ill.

In response to anti-Chinese sentiment in the West, Congress passed a Chinese Exclusion Act. The act would have made illegal the immigration of Chinese laborers for twenty years and denied American citizenship to Chinese Americans currently residing in the United States.[10] Arthur vetoed this steep restriction on the grounds that it violated the Burlingame Treaty. He was immediately denounced by newspapers in California. When a compromise restriction of ten years was proposed, Arthur agreed and signed the revised bill, however the Chinese Americans residing in the United States were denied citizenship.[10] The Act was renewed every ten years until the National Origins Act of 1924 essentially eliminated Chinese immigration because the quotas were based on the 1890 numbers. The Act had remarkable staying power and was not fully repealed until sixty-one years later in 1943, by which time the US was an ally of Nationalist China in the fight against Japan during World War II. Under such circumstances, the Act had become an embarrassment to the US, necessitating its repeal.

Arthur was reluctant to enforce the 15th Amendment in the United States Constitution and never attempted while President to overturn "Jim Crow" laws throughout the nation that prevented African Americans from voting. This may have been caused by a Supreme Court decision to overturn civil right cases and the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Foreign policy

In relation to Asia and Asians, President Arthur was also in office when the United States became the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations in modern times with Korea, which was then a unified, independent kingdom under the rule of the Joseon Dynasty. This was achieved in 1882 with the signing of the Shufeldt Treaty,[11] named after Commodore Robert W. Shufeldt (1822–95), the principal U.S. negotiator. Korea had existed in a state of virtual hermetic isolation for centuries until 1876, when it was forced to establish diplomatic relations with Japan on an unequal basis. The US maintained full diplomatic relations with Korea until 1905, when the latter became an unwilling protectorate of Japan following the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1884, the International Meridian Conference was held in Washington, D.C. at President Arthur's behest. This established the Greenwich Meridian and international standardized time, both in use today.

Illness

President Arthur demonstrated that he was above not only factions within the Republican Party, but possibly the party itself. Perhaps, in part, he felt able to do this because of the well-kept secret he had known since a year after he succeeded to the Presidency, that he was suffering from Bright's disease, a fatal kidney disease. This accounted for his failure to seek the Republican nomination for President aggressively in 1884. Nevertheless, Arthur was the last incumbent President to submit his name for renomination and fail to obtain it.

Seeks renomination

Arthur sought a full term as President in 1884, but lost the Republican party's presidential nomination to former Speaker of the House and Secretary of State James G. Blaine of Maine. Blaine, however, lost the general election to Democrat Grover Cleveland of New York.

Significant events during presidency

Administration and Cabinet

Chester A. Arthur
The Arthur Cabinet
Office Name Term
President Chester A. Arthur 1881–1885
Vice President None 1881–1885
Secretary of State James G. Blaine 1881
Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen 1881–1885
Secretary of Treasury William Windom 1881
Charles J. Folger 1881–1884
Walter Q. Gresham 1884
Hugh McCulloch 1884–1885
Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln 1881–1885
Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh 1881
Benjamin H. Brewster 1881–1885
Postmaster General Thomas L. James 1881
Timothy O. Howe 1881–1883
Walter Q. Gresham 1883–1884
Frank Hatton 1884–1885
Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt 1881–1882
William E. Chandler 1882–1885
Secretary of the Interior Samuel J. Kirkwood 1881–1882
Henry M. Teller 1882–1885


Judicial appointments

Supreme Court appointments

Other courts

In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Arthur appointed four judges to the United States circuit courts, and thirteen judges to the United States district courts.

Social and personal life

Arthur married Ellen "Nell" Lewis Herndon[12] on October 25, 1859. She was the only child of Elizabeth Hansbrough and Captain William Lewis Herndon USN. She was a favorite niece of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, USN of the United States Naval Observatory where her father had worked.

In 1860, Chester Arthur and "Nell" had a son, William Lewis Herndon Arthur, who was named after Ellen's father. This son died at age two of a brain disease. Another son, Chester Alan Arthur II, was born in 1864, and a girl, named Ellen Hansbrough Herndon after her mother, in 1871. Ellen Arthur died of pneumonia on January 12, 1880, at the early age of 42, only twenty months before Arthur became President. Arthur stated that he would never remarry and, while in the White House, asked his sister Mary Arthur McElroy, the wife of writer John E. McElroy, to assume certain social duties and help care for his daughter. President Arthur also had a memorial to his beloved "Nell"—a stained glass window was installed in St. John's Episcopal Church within view of his office and had the church light it at night so he could look at it. The memorial remains to this day.

Arthur is remembered as one of the most society-conscious presidents, earning the nickname "the Gentleman Boss" for his style of dress and courtly manner. Professor Marina Margaret Heiss at the University of Virginia lists Arthur as an example of an INTJ personality.[13]

Official White House portrait of Chester A. Arthur

Upon taking office, Arthur did not move into the White House immediately. He insisted upon its redecoration and had 24 wagonloads of furniture, some including pieces dating back to John Adams' term, carted away and sold at public auction.[14] Former president Rutherford B. Hayes bought two wagonloads of furniture which today are at his home Spiegel Grove. Arthur then commissioned Louis Comfort Tiffany to replace them with new pieces. A famous designer now best-known for his stained glass, Tiffany was among the foremost designers of the day.[15]

Arthur was a fisherman who belonged to the Restigouche Salmon Club and once reportedly caught an 80-pound bass off the coast of Rhode Island.

By the end of his presidency, Arthur had acquired wide personal popularity. On the day he left office, four young women (ignorant of Arthur's pledge not to marry again) offered to marry him. He was sometimes called "Elegant Arthur" for his commitment to fashionable attire and was said to have "looked like a president." He reportedly kept 80 pairs of pants in his wardrobe and changed pants several times a day. He was called "Chet" by family and friends, and by his middle name, with the stress on the second syllable ("Al-AN").

Physical health

As president, Arthur alleviated his stress by taking late evening walks that usually began after 1 AM. He rarely went to bed before 2 AM.[1]:274 However, by the summer of 1882 Arthur was often ill and exhausted, and by the beginning of 1883 he looked emaciated and aged.[1]:318 That March he had attacks from hypertensive heart disease and glomerulonephritis. Officially, Arthur was said to have a cold.[1]:355 In April he took a vacation to Florida for some rest. The trip was cut short when he was hit with severe pain. The White House criticized the media's sensationalism on the matter and blamed the illness on over exposure and seasickness.[1]:358 In October it was revealed to the press that Arthur had been diagnosed that summer with Bright's disease.[1]:317 In a private conversation shortly after James G. Blaine's nomination for the 1884 presidential election Arthur confided in Frank B. Conger that his disease was in an advanced stage and he only had a few months to live, and by the end of his presidency Arthur's health had deteriorated significantly.[1]:381

Post presidency

Arthur's grave at Albany Rural Cemetery
Chester A. Arthur statue at Madison Square in New York City

Arthur served as President through March 4, 1885. Upon leaving office, he returned to New York City to serve as counsel to his old law firm. However, he was often indisposed because of his Bright's disease. He managed a few public appearances but none after the end of 1885.[1]:417 After summering in New London, Connecticut he returned (October 1, 1886) quite ill. On November 16, by his order, nearly all of his papers, personal and official, were burned. The next morning he suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage and never regained consciousness. He died the next day.[1]:418 His post presidency was the second shortest, longer only than that of James Polk who died 103 days after leaving office.

On November 22, a private funeral was held at the Church of the Heavenly Rest. His pallbearers were Walter Q. Gresham, Robert Todd Lincoln, William E. Chandler, Frank Hatton, Benjamin H. Brewster, Philip Sheridan, Cornelius Rea Agnew, Cornelius Newton Bliss, Robert G. Dun, George H. Sharpe, Charles Lewis Tiffany and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Also in attendance were President Grover Cleveland, former President Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Franklin Butler, Chief Justice Morrison Waite, Justices Samuel Blatchford and John Marshall Harlan, Roscoe Conkling and James G. Blaine.[1]:418

Chester was buried next to Ellen in the Arthur family plot in the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York, in a large sarcophagus on a large corner plot that contains the graves of many of his family members and ancestors. Sculptor Ephraim Keyser designed the sarcophagus.

Writings and sayings

Sitting Bull

On Taxes and Spending:

"The extravagant expenditure of public money is an evil not to be measured by the value of that money to the people who are taxed for it."[16]

On Democracy:

"Men may die, but the fabrics of free institutions remain unshaken."[17]

On Privacy:

"I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business."[16]

On Garfield's death:

"An appalling calamity has befallen the American people since their chosen representatives last met in the halls where you are now assembled...To that mysterious exercise of His will which has taken from us the loved and illustrious citizen who was but lately the head of the nation we bow in sorrow and submission. The memory of his exalted character, of his noble achievements, and of his patriotic life will be treasured forever as a sacred possession of the whole people." [18]

On Sitting Bull:

"The surrender of Sitting Bull and his forces upon the Canadian frontier has allayed apprehension, although bodies of British Indians still cross the border in quest of sustenance. Upon this subject a correspondence has been opened which promises an adequate understanding. Our troops have orders to avoid meanwhile all collisions with alien Indians."[18]

On the Interoceanic Waterway:

"The questions growing out of the proposed interoceanic waterway across the Isthmus of Panama are of grave national importance. This Government has not been unmindful of the solemn obligations imposed upon it by its compact of 1846 with Colombia, as the independent and sovereign mistress of the territory crossed by the canal, and has sought to render them effective by fresh engagements with the Colombian Republic looking to their practical execution."[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). Gentleman Boss. NY, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-46095-2. 
  2. ^ Cf. William Arthur's certificate of naturalization, State of New York, 08-31-1843, in: The Chester A. Arthur Papers, Library of Congress, Washington.
  3. ^ "Arthur Cottage". discovernorthernireland.com. Northern Island Tourist Board. http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Arthur-Cottage-Cullybackey-Ballymena-P8218. Retrieved October 22, 2009. 
  4. ^ 1830 is the date on his grave inscription and occurs in some reference works.
  5. ^ "James R. Webster". USGenWeb Project. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyseneca/webster.htm. 
  6. ^ Criscione, Rachel Damon (2006). How to draw the life and times of Chester A. Arthur. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. p. 12. ISBN 1-4042-2998-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=HH0GPsw5DaEC. Retrieved October 24, 2009. 
  7. ^ "President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site". historicvermont.org. Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. http://www.historicvermont.org/sites/html/arthur2.html. Retrieved October 24, 2009. 
  8. ^ Sol Barzaman: Madmen and Geniuses; Follet Books Chicago 1974
  9. ^ Doyle, Burton T.; Swaney, Homer H. (1881). Lives of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur. Washington: R.H. Darby. p. 61. ISBN 0-104-57546-8. http://www.archive.org/stream/livesofjamesa00doyle/livesofjamesa00doyle_djvu.txt. 
  10. ^ a b c http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/keyevents/arthur
  11. ^ Hyo-wan, Lee (June 13, 2008). "Essays Trace US, Japan Roles in Joseon's Downfall". koreatimes.co.kr (Korea Times). http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/include/print.asp?newsIdx=25829. Retrieved May 23, 2009. 
  12. ^ Ellen "Nell" Lewis Herndon's biography via Whitehouse.gov
  13. ^ "INTJ personality". http://typelogic.com/intj.html. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  14. ^ "President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site". Historicvermont.com. http://www.historicvermont.com/sites/html/arthur2.html. Retrieved 2008-09-21. 
  15. ^ Mitchell, Sarah E. "Louis Comfort Tiffany's work on the White House." 2003.[1]
  16. ^ a b [2]|Chester A. Arthur|2009|Chester Arthur Quotes (Chester A. Arthur Quotes)
  17. ^ [3]|Chester A. Arthur|2009|Chester Arthur Quotes (Chester A. Arthur Quotes)|
  18. ^ a b c http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29523| Chester A. Arthur| State of the Union Address| December 6, 1881

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
James A. Garfield
President of the United States
September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885
Succeeded by
Grover Cleveland
Preceded by
William A. Wheeler
Vice President of the United States
March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881
Vacant
Title next held by
Thomas A. Hendricks
Party political offices
Preceded by
William A. Wheeler
Republican Party vice presidential candidate
1880
Succeeded by
John A. Logan

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