Chester A. Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American politician who served as 21st President of the United States. Arthur was a member of the Republican Party and worked as a lawyer before becoming the 20th Vice President in the administration of James Garfield. Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled office seeker, on July 2, 1881. Garfield died on September 19, and Arthur became President, serving until 1885.

Presidency

Avoiding old political cronies, Arthur determined to go his own way once in the White House. He became a man of fashion in his garb and associates, and often was seen with the elite of Washington, D.C., New York, and Newport. To the indignation of the Stalwart Republicans, the onetime Collector of the Port of New York became, as President, a champion of civil service reform. Public pressure, heightened by the assassination of Garfield, forced an unwieldy Congress to heed the President.

Related Topics:
White House - Washington, D.C. - Stalwart Republicans

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In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which established a bipartisan Civil Service Commission, 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.

Related Topics:
1883 - Pendleton Act - Civil Service Commission

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Acting independently of party dogma, Arthur also tried to lower tariff 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 Democratic Party for redress, and the tariff began to emerge as a major political issue between the two parties.

Related Topics:
Tariff - Tariff Act of 1883 - Democratic Party

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

Related Topics:
Immigration law - 1882 - Paupers - Chinese

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In 1884 the International Meridian Conference was held in Washington at President Arthur´s behest. This established the Greenwich Meridian which is still in use today.

Related Topics:
1884 - International Meridian Conference - Greenwich Meridian

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President Arthur demonstrated that he was above factions within the Republican Party, if indeed not above the party itself. Perhaps in part his reason was the well-kept secret he had known since a year after he succeeded to the Presidency, that he was suffering from Bright's Disease, a fatal kidney disease (see 'Presidential disability prior to 1967' in Acting President of the United States).

Related Topics:
Republican Party - Bright's Disease - Acting President of the United States

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Arthur kept himself in the running for the Presidential nomination in 1884 in order not to appear that he feared defeat, but was not renominated.

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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 Mark Twain, deeply cynical of politicians, conceded, "It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration."

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Arthur served as president until March 4, 1885. He returned to New York City where he died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at 5:10 a.m. on Thursday November 18, 1886, at the age of 57. Chester was buried next to Ellen in the Arthur family plot in the Albany Rural Cemetery in Albany, New York, in a large sarcophagus on a large corner plot that contains the graves of many of his family members and ancestors.

Related Topics:
March 4 - 1885 - Cerebral hemorrhage - November 18 - 1886 - Albany Rural Cemetery - Albany, New York

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Cabinet

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Significant events during presidency

• Standard Oil founded (1882)
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
• Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883)
• Civil Rights Cases (1883)