Summary:
Chester A. Arthur served as the 21st president of the United States. Sworn in as president in 1881, following the assassination of James Garfield, Arthur is best known for the civil service reforms passed during his administration. These reforms, however, cost Arthur much support and, eventually, the Republican presidential nomination to James G. Blaine in 1884.
Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur was the 21st president of the United States, and served only because of the assassination of President James A. Garfield. He did not do much in office, but he did play an important role in the history of the United States.
Chester Alan Arthur was born in 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont to William and Malvina Stone Arthur. They moved around a lot, from different towns in Vermont and New York before finally settling in Saratoga County, New York. Arthur attended school there where he was known as "not an unusual member of the class...." After he graduated from Union College, he began to learn law and teach at a local school. In 1853, he began to work at a New York law office, owned by a friend of his father, Erastus D. Culver. A year later, he passed his bar exam and received his license required to practice law. His reputation grew immensely, and his hard work paid off when he won a case that permitted blacks to ride on any trolley in New York City; he soon after opened his own law practice.
Arthur fell in love with a woman named Ellen Lewis and married her in 1859. They later had a son who they named Chester Alan Arthur, Jr. and a daughter named Ellen Arthur. Before he became the vice president for James A. Garfield, he had may encounters with politics. In 1844, he and some other boys shouted on the streets in support for the candidate for the Whigs in the presidential election. More than a decade later, in 1856, he led a group called the Fifteenth Ward Young Men's Frémont Vigilance Committee. This group was mainly a support committee for John Frémont, the Republican who ran for the presidency in 1856. He campaigned for Abraham Lincoln, another Republican candidate, in 1860, while working for the reelection of the governor in New York, Edwin Morgan.
During the election of 1880, Chester A. Arthur was chosen to be the vice president for candidate James A. Garfield. At this time, before the election, the nominating convention showed that the Republican Party was split into two parts: the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds. Garfield, a Half-Breed, attempted to get support from the Stalwarts by selecting Arthur as the vice president. In the end, although the democrats attacked Chester Arthur's association with the controlling group of the Stalwart's activity, Garfield still won by less than 10,000 votes.
President James A. Garfield, during his time in office, appointed Half-Breeds to offices and ignored the Stalwarts. On July 2, 1881, one of the Stalwarts, Charles Guiteau, shot President Garfield, who died 11 weeks later. Arthur was sworn in after taking the Presidential Oath the day after his death.
President Chester A. Arthur had it tough; Congress at this time was almost evenly divided between the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds. With this Congress, it was near impossible to pass any bills because of the split opinions. Yet, the Arthur Administration gained something very great: a system that allowed government officials to get their jobs not by political loyalty, but by their physical skills.
Arthur began to lose political support while in office; Congress developed an act that required applicants for some government jobs to take a competitive test and prohibited officeholders from taking political tests, and although this seemed important, it only affected a portion of employees. When Arthur signed the act, many of his supporters became angry and ended their support for him. More support was lost when he vetoed a bill that he thought too extensive; Congress ended up denying that veto and also one that kept Chinese workers from entering the country for 20 years and prevented any Chinese from citizenship in the US. He did make one important decision that greatly benefited the US Navy when he requested money to strengthen it.
In his final year in office, he hoped for reelection, even though he was suffering from Bright's disease. At that year's Republican convention, Arthur lost by more than half, with him polling in at only 207 votes, while Blaine received 541. In the major election, however, Blaine lost to Grover Cleveland. At the end of his term, he attempted entry to the Senate, which also failed. He came back to his home state, New York, where he once again worked at his law practice. He died soon after in 1886 after becoming ill.
Chester Alan Arthur was a man who was there when the country was in need of a president and his patriotic support he accomplished much in the four years he was in office. He will always be remembered throughout history.
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