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Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States. He was elected vice-president and became president after James Garfield was killed. He was added to the ticket to placate the Stalwart faction of the Republican party but he disappointed them when he became President and signed the Pendleton Act for civil service reform .

Having alienated his power base he was not nominated for a second term.

He was a dependable and sharp minded executive. He is little known by most people and was not famous even at the time he assumed the U.S. Presidency.

He is best known for his signing of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. This law helped attack the existing spoils and patronage system. Many government jobs began to be given to candidates qualifying through a written exam process.

President Arthur also signed a Tariff Bill and began the process of improving our U.S. Navy and its fleet of vessels. The noted historian and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Arthur Schlessinger, has written that at the time of Arthur's initiative, the U.S. Navy contained only three workable ships. Targeting funds for this cause, the U.S. Navy began its voyage toward becoming a more modernized and capable force in U.S. security operations.

President Arthur came from a strict Christian upbringing. His father was once a Free Will Baptist minister.

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13y ago

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