Transcript Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur
Overview
•Twenty-First President
•1881-1885
•Political Party: Republican
•The A is for Alan
His Life
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Born: October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont
Died: November 18, 1886 in New York, New York
Married: Ellen Lewis Herndon (1837-1880), on October
25, 1859
Three Children:
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William Lewis Herndon Arthur (1860-63)
Chester Alan Arthur (1864-1937)
Ellen Herndon Arthur (1871-1915)
Religion: Episcopalian
Graduated from Union College (1848)
Nicknames
• "The Gentleman Boss"
• "Elegant Arthur"
• Arthur was given these nicknames because he
loved to spend money, and have nice things.
• Disgusted with the shabby look of the White
House, Arthur hired the most famous
designer in New York, Louis Comfort Tiffany,
to fix it up
Previous careers
•Teacher
•Lawyer
•Quartermaster General of New York, 1862-63
•Collector of Customs, Port of New York,
1871-78
•Vice President, 1881 (under Garfield)
•President of the United States, 1881-85
Political Achievements
•Domestic Policy Highlights:
– Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act
– Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
– Tariff reduction
•Foreign Policy Highlights:
– U.S. Navy expansion
– Reciprocal trade agreements
Honesty and Integrity
• Many people involved in the politics of the day predicted an
enormous amount of corruption during Arthur's Presidency.
• Arthur ran the presidency in an honest and upright fashion. In fact,
he showed great political courage by
• Vetoed graft-laden "rivers and harbors" bill
• Broke relations with his former New York political boss
Vigorously prosecuting fellow Republicans accused of defrauding
the government.
• Legislatively, though, little of any consequence was achieved
during his term except for the creation of the modern Civil Service
system with its competitive examinations and non-political merit
system. It became law because, in another display of exceptional
political courage, Chester Arthur went against the will of his own
party and supported it.
• “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and
widely distrusted, and no one ever retired ... more
generally respected”
Cabinet
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Secretaries of State. James G. Blaine (1881); Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (188185).
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Secretaries of the Treasury. William Windom (1881); Charles J. Folger (188184); Walter Q. Gresham (1884); Hugh McCulloch (1884-85).
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Secretary of War. Robert T. Lincoln (1881-85).
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Attorneys General. I. Wayne MacVeagh (1881); Benjamin H. Brewster (188285).
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Secretaries of the Navy. William H. Hunt (1881-82); William E. Chandler (188285).
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Postmasters General. Thomas L. James (1881); Timothy O. Howe (1882-83);
Walter Q. Gresham (1883-84); Frank Hatton (1884-85).
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Secretaries of the Interior. Samuel J. Kirkwood (1881-82); Henry M. Teller
(1882-85).
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Appointments to the Supreme Court. Horace Gray (1882-1902); Samuel
Blatchford (1882-93).
Garfield
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In July 1881, after only four months in office, President Garfield was
mortally wounded at the Washington railroad station by gunfire from a
disgruntled office seeker and died 80 days later, leaving Chester A.
Arthur as President of the United States and the third President to have
served as President within a 12 month period.
Garfield
Hancock
Popular Votes
4,453,295
4,414,082
Electoral Votes
214
155
Winfield Scott
Hancock
Other stuff
• American Red Cross established (1882)
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
• Immigration act bars paupers, criminals, and
insane from United States (1882)
• First steel cruisers authorized to modernize United
States Navy (1882)
• Star Routes postal fraud cases prosecuted (1882)
• Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883)
• Tariff Act (1883)
• Civil government established in Alaska (1884)
More Other Stuff
• A stalemated party system and a divided congress limited the
achievements of Arthur's term. He prosecuted grafters in the Post
Office and vetoed (1882) rivers and harbors legislation, but
Congress overrode his veto. Arthur also vetoed (1882) a bill that
restricted Chinese immigration, compelling the lawmakers to
pass an improved and less harsh measure. After the Republicans
lost the midterm congressional elections of 1882, Congress
enacted, with Arthur's support, the Pendleton Law that created a
Civil Service Commission and a classified merit system. His
support of a lower tariff failed when Congress enacted the high
protective tariff of 1883.
• President Arthur could not seek a second term as President
because he had been diagnosed as having kidney disease. In fact,
it claimed his life within two years of leaving office; he died in
New York City on November 18, 1886.
• He dedicated the Washington Monument on February 21, 1885.
Bibliography
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ca21.html
http://www.americanpresident.org/KoTrain/Courses/CAA/CAA_In_Bri
ef.htm
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/21parth.html
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/aae/bios/21parth.html
http://www.paulsilhan.com/pres1.htm
http://ipl.si.umich.edu/div/potus/jagarfield.htm
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/hall2/chests.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/12587/contents/personalities/carthur/caa.ht
ml
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/hall2/chests.htm
www.generalsandbrevets.com/ ngh/hancock.htm
http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?President
Number=21