#21: Arthur, Chester

and.... I’m back! Today with a fellow named Chester Arthur, our twenty-first president, and the successor of James Garfield who was assassinated in office in 1881.

Chester A. Arthur
Oct. 5, 1829 (Fairfield, Vermont) - Nov. 18, 1886 (New York, New York)

World Book says: "Arthur enjoyed fashionable surroundings and fine clothes. He also liked to entertain friends. Tall, ruddy, and handsome, Arthur was sometimes called the "Gentleman Boss."

Arthur rose through the ranks of the Republican Party machine, as a protege of New York Senator Rosco Conkling. New York politics were rife with graft and waste, and Arthur was a great beneficiary of the system. However, as President, he faced tremendous popular demand for political reform and for a better system of filling public offices. He thus signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Act, to the shock and disappointment of his party machine cronies. His administration became known for its honesty and efficiency.

Before becoming President, Arthur held a variety of political posts and before that he was a lawyer at a New York City law firm. He was known as a civil rights crusader, and won a case in 1855 that establish the rights of blacks to ride on any streetcar in the city.

Arthur's wife died a year before he was elected Vice President. As President, he asked his youngest sister to serve as his hostess. According to World Book, "Arthur though the White House looked like 'a badly kept barracks,' and ordered it renovated." As a result, he lived in the Washington home of Senator John P. Jones of Nevada for the first several months of his presidency.

While he was president, Congress sought to pass a bill banning Chinese immigration for twenty years. Arthur vetoed it, because he said it violated a treaty with China. Congress amended the bill to limit the prohibition for ten year and it became law.

A year into his presidency, Arthur learned that he had a fatal kidney disease called glomerulonephritis, or Bright's Disease. He was often in great pain, but kept the illness a secret (just like Jed Bartlet!). Because of his illness, he quietly avoided being nominated to a second term.


Thank you for reading and now, a public service announcement:

If you want to have a son that grows up to look like this (below),
name him Chester.
Test this wisdom at your own peril, my friends.