Chester Alan Arthur (1829-1886)/biography

Chester Alan Arthur (, –, ) was an  who served as the twenty-first. Arthur was a member of the and worked as a  before becoming the twentieth  under. While Garfield was mortally wounded by on, , he did not die until September 19, at which time Arthur was sworn in as president, serving until ,.

Before entering politics, Arthur had been Collector of Customs for the. He was appointed by but was fired by  under suspicion of  and.

A political protégé of, Arthur's primary achievement as President was reform, namely the passage of the. The passage of this legislation earned Arthur the moniker "The Father of Civil Service" and a very 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, deeply cynical about politicians, conceded, "It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration."

Early life and education
Arthur was supposedly born in the town of in  (even though no birth record has ever been found in the US) on, , although he sometimes claimed to be born in 1830 (even his grave inscription says the latter). His parents were William Arthur and Malvina Stone. His father was an Irish immigrant who had initially migrated to Dunham, Québec, Canada where he and his wife bought a farm, located about 80 miles north of the Vermont, US border. Arthur never publicly admitted to either country of his birth and there remains much speculation that he was born a British/Canadian subject and not an American. During his lifetime, political rivals circulated the rumor that he was born across the in, which if true would have barred him from serving as the President of the United States for failure to meet the eligibility requirements outlined in  of the , providing that the President must be a natural born US citizen. Arthur never provided any credible proof of his origins and never admitted to anything.

Arthur spent some of his childhood years living in. 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,, )"

Chester Arthur's Presidency was predicted by James Russel Webster originally of and then later of. A detailed account of this is written here in a self written memorial for James Russel Webster. An excerpt from Webster's memorial;

"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."

Arthur attended public schools and later attended in. There he became a member of, North America's fifth oldest , and graduated in 1848.

Pre-political career
Arthur became principal of North Pownal Academy in in 1851. He studied law and was admitted to the in 1854. Arthur commenced practice in, where he supported equal rights for who objected to the  of. He also took an active part in the reorganization of the state.

Arthur married on,. She was the only child of Elizabeth Hansbrough and Captain. She was a favorite niece of Commander, USN of the 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 "Nell" Arthur died of on, , at the early age of 42, only twenty months before Arthur became President. While in the White House, Arthur would not give anyone the place that would have been his wife's. He asked his sister Mary, 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"&mdash;a stained glass window was installed in 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.

During the, Arthur served as acting general of the state in 1861 and was widely praised for his service. He was later commissioned as, and appointed quartermaster general with the rank of 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, Arthur was appointed by President  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 s in the Republican Party, which firmly believed in the even as it was coming under vehement attack from reformers. He insisted upon honest administration of the 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
In 1878, Grant's successor,, 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, but without success. Grant and deadlocked, and after 36 ballots, the convention turned to , 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. , 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!" Conkling and his Stalwart supporters reluctantly accepted the nomination of Arthur as vice president. Arthur worked hard raising money for his and Garfield's election, but it was still a close contest, with the Garfield-Arthur ticket receiving a nationwide plurality of less 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 quickly grew to hate Arthur, and wouldn't even let him into the White House.

After a nasty political battle between Garfield and Conkling which resulted in the latter's resigation, Arthur went back to New York City to wait out the time before Congress resumed in December. Then, on,  was shot in the back by , who shouted: "I am a  of the Stalwarts... Arthur is president now!!" Arthur, who knew nothing of this in advance, was mortified. (Madmen and Geniuses, Barzman, 1974)

The Eighty Day Crisis
Arthur was cautious; he knew that there were a great number of people who thought that he had something to do with the attempted murder of the President, and didn't want anything to do with succession until it was actually necessary; in fact, he went into seclusion, largely confining himself to his house in and avoiding public appearances. Thus, for two months and 18 days, the country drifted, leaderless, hanging on every reported detail of Garfield's health without much attention to the business of government. On, Garfield died and Arthur succeeded to the Presidency.

Assumption of office
President Arthur took the oath of office twice. The first time was just past midnight at his Lexington Avenue residence on September 20th by justice John R. Brady; the second time was upon his return to Washington two days later.

Policies
Arthur was aware of the factions and rivalries of the Republican Party, as well as the controversies of  versus  reform. Entering the presidency under suspicion of conspiring to assassinate his predecessor, Arthur believed that the only way to garner the nation's approval &mdash; and to heal the breaches in American politics that had killed a President &mdash; was to be independent from both factions. Arthur determined to go his own way once in the.

He became a man of fashion in his manner of dress and in his associates; he was often seen with the elite of, New York, 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. Avoiding old political cronies and alienating his old mentor Conkling, public pressure, heightened by the assassination of Garfield, forced an unwieldy Congress to heed the President.

In 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which established a bipartisan which stopped big businesses from giving out rebates and pooling with other companies, 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. Acting independently of party dogma, Arthur also tried to lower 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 for redress, and the tariff began to emerge as a major political issue between the two parties.

The Arthur Administration enacted the first general Federal. Arthur approved a measure in 1882 excluding, criminals, and the mentally ill. Congress also suspended immigration for ten years with the, later making the restriction permanent.

In 1884, the was held in Washington at President Arthur's behest. This established the which is still in use today.

President Arthur demonstrated that he was above not only factions within the, 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, a fatal kidney disease. This accounted for his failure to aggressively seek the Republican nomination for President in 1884. Nevertheless, Arthur was the last incumbent President to submit his name for renomination and fail to obtain it. Arthur sought a full term as President in, but lost the Republican party's presidential nomination to former  and   of. Blaine, however, lost the election to  of.

Significant events during presidency

 * founded (1882)
 * (1882)
 * (1883)
 * (1883)

Supreme Court appointments

 * - 1882
 * - 1882

States admitted to the Union
None

Social and personal life
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. Professors Marina Margaret Heiss at the University of Viriginia lists Arthur as an example of an personality.

Upon taking office, Arthur did not move into the immediately. He insisted upon its redecoration and had 24 wagonloads of furniture, some including pieces dating back to ' term, carted away and sold at public auction. Former president bought two wagonloads of furniture which today are at his home. Arthur then commissioned to replace them with new pieces. A famous designer now best-known for his, Tiffany was among the foremost designers of the day.

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

Widely popular by the end of his presidency, four young women (ignorant of Arthur's pronouncement that he would never marry again) proposed to him on the day he left office. 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").

Post presidency
Arthur served as President through,. Upon leaving office, he returned to New York City, where he died of a massive at 5:10 a.m. on Thursday,, , at the age of 57. Arthur suffered from, and his death was most likely related to a history of.

His was the second shortest, longer only than that of  (excluding presidents who died in office).

Chester was buried next to Ellen in the Arthur family plot in the in, in a large sarcophagus on a large corner plot that contains the graves of many of his family members and ancestors.

Media and Modern Cultural References

 * During the movie, John McClane, played by actor is asked a riddle by Simon, the movie's , "What is 21 out of 42?".  Together with Zeus, McClane figures out that there have been 42 Presidents of the United States, but they are unable to remember who the 21st was. Later, a truck driver tells McClane that the 21st president was Chester A. Arthur, and identifies a school in which Simon claims to have placed a bomb — it is later found to be Chester A. Arthur Elementary School.


 * In the Futurama episode "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid", he is shown briefly when Fry attempts to re-educate his co-workers.