[10] William Arthur also spent a brief time studying law, but while still in Waterville, he departed from both his legal studies and his Presbyterian upbringing to join the Free Will Baptists; he spent the rest of his life as a minister in that sect. [108] Neither candidate commanded a majority of delegates and, deadlocked after thirty-six ballots, the convention turned to a dark horse, James A. Garfield, an Ohio Congressman and Civil War general who was neither Stalwart nor Half-Breed. Arthur's failing health and political temperament combined to make his administration less active than a modern presidency, yet he earned praise among contemporaries for his solid performance in office. They existed from the 1870s until Arthur became president in 1881, at which point Conkling was no longer a force, and Arthur had reformed the Civil Service. Eastern newspapers praised the veto, while it was condemned in the Western states. [48] The couple had three children: After his marriage, Arthur devoted his efforts to building his law practice, but also found time to engage in Republican party politics. By the time of Garfield's assassination, most political observers thought that Arthur had lost any power or influence that he did have with the president. [77][h] Among those who dealt with the Custom House, Arthur was one of the era's more popular collectors. He was elected as James Garfield's vice president in the presidential election of 1880, but when Garfield was assassinated, Arthur was left with no choice but to take his spot in the Oval Office. [37] After completing his college preparation at the Lyceum of Union Village (now Greenwich) and a grammar school in Schenectady, Arthur enrolled at Union College there in 1845, where he studied the traditional classical curriculum. [125] As vice president, Arthur cast tie-breaking votes in favor of the Republicans when Mahone opted to join their caucus. [200] The Senate confirmed the nomination but, as expected, Conkling declined it,[200] the last time a confirmed nominee declined an appointment. Arthur takes office as vice president in the presidential administration of James Garfield. [164] Similar efforts at reciprocal trade treaties with Santo Domingo and Spain's American colonies were defeated by February 1885, and an existing reciprocity treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii was allowed to lapse. He achieved prominence as a politician and as president of the United States. [100] Arthur immediately took advantage of the resulting free time to work for the election of Edward Cooper as New York City's next mayor. [155] Arthur agreed with his party, and in 1882 called for the abolition of excise taxes on everything except liquor, as well as a simplification of the complex tariff structure. Arthur vetoed the first version of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, arguing that its twenty-year ban on Chinese immigrants to the United States violated the Burlingame Treaty, but he signed a second version, which included a ten-year ban. [49], In 1861, Arthur was appointed to the military staff of Governor Edwin D. Morgan as engineer-in-chief. After exiting the White House in March 1885, Arthur returned to New York City to resume his legal career. "[220] By 1975, however, Thomas C. Reeves would write that Arthur's "appointments, if unspectacular, were unusually sound; the corruption and scandal that dominated business and politics of the period did not tarnish his administration. Instead, the Republicans chose Secretary of State James Blaine as their presidential nominee. A sharp dressed man 9. [109], Garfield and his supporters knew they would face a difficult election without the support of the New York Stalwarts and decided to offer one of them the vice presidential nomination. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, delegates chose New York Customs House collector Chester A. Arthur (1829-86) as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. [189] The allotment system was favored by liberal reformers at the time, but eventually proved detrimental to Native Americans as most of their land was resold at low prices to white speculators. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Chester A. Arthur: Impact and Legacy By Justus Doenecke Historians view the Chester Arthur presidency as an important surprise, one that no one would have expected. He also oversaw the establishment of the Naval War College and the Office of Naval Intelligence. His father, William Ford (1826-1905), was born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family that had emigrated from Somerset, England in the 16th century. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. [134] Before leaving New York, he ensured the presidential line of succession by preparing and mailing to the White House a proclamation calling for a Senate special session. [153] The commission issued its first rules in May 1883; by 1884, half of all postal officials and three-quarters of the Customs Service jobs were to be awarded by merit. He remained at the job until 1870 at a salary of $10,000 a year. Although he still objected to this denial of entry to Chinese laborers, Arthur acceded to the compromise measure, signing the Chinese Exclusion Act into law on May 6, 1882. His first son died suddenly when he was only three years old. "[4] [106] Arthur felt devastated, and perhaps guilty, and never remarried. He joined other young Whigs in support of Henry Clay, even participating in a brawl against students who supported James K. Polk during the 1844 United States presidential election. His father, William Arthur, had immigrated to the United States from northern Ireland when he was 18 and had become a Baptist minister. The most important events of his administration were the passage of the Tariff Act of 1883 and of the "Edmunds Law" prohibiting polygamy in the territories, and the completion of three great transcontinental railwaysthe Southern Pacific, the Northern Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa F. Political opponent of the President and former secretary of state James G. Blaine defeats Arthur for the nomination; John A. Logan is selected as vice president. [15], In 1828, the family moved again, to Fairfield, where Chester Alan Arthur was born the following year; he was the fifth of nine children. The act is designed to ban companies from importing immigrant workers to break strikes and drive down wages. This was a very ironic situation, because the reason Guiteau assassinated . [149] Both Democratic and Republican leaders realized that they could attract the votes of reformers by turning against the spoils system and, by 1882, a bipartisan effort began in favor of reform. Chester A. Arthur 's tenure as the 21st president of the United States began on September 19, 1881, when he succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of President James A. Garfield, and ended on March 4, 1885. Critics have long contended that Twain's Puddin' Head Wilson is based on Arthur's reforming of the Civil Service. The act will be renewed regularly into the twentieth century. Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 - November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He was the fifth of eight children born to William Arthur, a Baptist minister, and Malvina Stone Arthur. [167], A more contentious debate materialized over the status of Chinese immigrants; in January 1868, the Senate had ratified the Burlingame Treaty with China, allowing an unrestricted flow of Chinese into the country. [128] Once there, he traveled with Conkling to Albany, where the former senator hoped for a quick re-election to the Senate, and with it, a defeat for the Garfield administration. [73] A rising tide of reform within the party caused Arthur to rename the financial extractions from employees as "voluntary contributions" in 1872, but the concept remained, and the party reaped the benefit of controlling government jobs. James Garfield dies from blood poisoning and complications after surgeons search endlessly to find the lost bullet in his back, lodged in his pancreas. [62] Morgan leaned toward the conservative wing of the New York Republican party, as did the men who worked with him in the organization, including Weed, Seward (who continued in office under President Andrew Johnson), and Roscoe Conkling (an eloquent Utica Congressman and rising star in the party). In 1871, an era of political machines and patronage, Arthur was named to the powerful position of customs collector for the Port of New York. The foreman of the jury charges that a government agent attempted to bribe him, and the judge orders a retrial, to begin on December 7, 1882. [151] In just two years' time, an unrepentant Stalwart had become the president who ushered in long-awaited civil service reform. [157], Congress attempted to balance the budget from the other side of the ledger, with increased spending on the 1882 Rivers and Harbors Act in the unprecedented amount of $19 million. [89] Arthur appointed a committee of Custom House workers to determine where the cuts were to be made and, after a written protest, carried them out. [173] Garfield's Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt advocated reform of the Navy. Important event: Chester Arthur (1829-1886), the 21st U.S. president, took office after the death of President James Garfield (1831-1881). He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, graduating in 1848. [128][l], While in Albany on July 2, Arthur learned that Garfield had been shot. [148], Garfield's assassination by a deranged office seeker amplified the public demand for civil service reform. [137][m] He initially took up residence at the home of Senator John P. Jones, while a White House remodeling he had ordered was carried out, including addition of an elaborate fifty-foot glass screen by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Chester A. Arthur accomplishments Upon the death of President James A. Garfield in September, 1881, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21 st POTUS. A revised version of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which reduces the period of non-immigration to ten years but maintains the ban on Chinese citizenship, becomes law. There, his health continued to deteriorate, and on November 18, 1886, he died at age 57 at his home. Arthur formally takes the oath of office in Washington, DC. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. 0. The President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site was the first historic site owned by the State of Vermont. [219] By 1935, historian George F. Howe said that Arthur had achieved "an obscurity in strange contrast to his significant part in American history. A skilled fisherman The United States Bureau of Labor is created within the Department of the Interior; an independent Department of Labor will not be created until 1913. [182] He followed the same pattern in other Southern states, forging coalitions with independents and Greenback Party members. [116] As Republicans had done since the end of the Civil War, Garfield and Arthur initially focused their campaign on the "bloody shirt"the idea that returning Democrats to office would undo the victory of the Civil War and reward secessionists. Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829, in Fairfield, Vermont. [1] In a special message to Congress, Arthur asks the legislature to appropriate funds for naval reconstruction work. [133] Judge John R. Brady of the New York Supreme Court administered the oath of office in Arthur's home at 2:15a.m. on September 20. [104] Arthur and Conkling campaigned vigorously for the Stalwart ticket and, owing partly to a splintering of the Democratic vote, were victorious. He, along with many of those involved in the project, had contracted decompression sickness because of working in the caissons used to form the foundations of the bridge towers. He graduated from Union College in 1848, taught school, was admitted to the bar and practiced law in New York City. "[222], Arthur's townhouse, the Chester A. Arthur Home, was sold to William Randolph Hearst. Among the facts that argue against Hinman's theories are the entries for Chester A. Arthur in several U.S. Censuses from before he was politically prominent, which list his birthplace as Vermont, and the entry of his birth in the Arthur family Bible, which also indicates Vermont as his birthplace. [82] As a result, his income dropped to $12,000 a yearmore than his nominal boss, the Secretary of the Treasury, but far less than what he had previously received. in 1883. Diseases And Disabilities. [204] His health limited his activity with the firm, and Arthur served only of counsel. Before he moved into the White House, Chester Arthur hired designer and stained-glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) to redecorate the state rooms. "Men may die, but the fabric of free . After James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, Chester A. Arthur became President of the United States. James Garfield added Arthur to the 1880 presidential ticket because he thought it would help him win the state of New York, whose Republican party machine was instrumental to any political victory. [93] Hayes then submitted the appointment of Theodore Roosevelt Sr., L. Bradford Prince, and Edwin Merritt (all supporters of Conkling's rival William M. Evarts) to the Senate for confirmation as their replacements. [35] One of his first teachers said Arthur was a boy "frank and open in manners and genial in disposition. 9. The original designer, John Roebling, died of an infection caused by an injury he received only days after having secured permission to begin his project. Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. President Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland attend the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. [78] He got along with his subordinates and, since Murphy had already filled the staff with Conkling's adherents, he had few occasions to fire anyone. Early in the Civil War he served as quartermaster general of New York state. [187] Garfield had believed polygamy was criminal behavior and was morally detrimental to family values, and Arthur's views were, for once, in line with his predecessor's. Arthur approves a bill to appoint a tariff commission; the commission eventually recommends tariff reductions. [11] Her family was primarily of English and Welsh descent, and her maternal grandfather, Uriah Stone, had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Being obscure, he is not counted among the Presidents whom . https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/chester-a-arthur. PDF. [85] Sherman ordered a commission led by John Jay to investigate the New York Custom House. In 1848, after graduating from Union College, he taught at Schaghticoke in Rensselaer County. [80] In that year, reform-minded Republicans formed the Liberal Republican party and voted against Grant, but he was re-elected in spite of their opposition. [14] They quickly moved from Burlington to Jericho, and finally to Waterville, as William received positions teaching at different schools. On graduation, he went on to study law. [156] After conference with the Senate, the bill that emerged only reduced tariffs by an average of 1.47%. [175], Chandler appointed an advisory board to prepare a report on modernization, whose goal was to create a Navy that would protect America thousands of miles away, rather than just coastal waters. [145] Reformers feared Arthur, as a former supporter of the spoils system, would not commit to continuing the investigation into the scandal. In January 1883, he signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act, landmark legislation mandating that certain federal government jobs be distributed based on merit rather than political connections. In addition to civil service reform, Arthur triedwith limited successto lower tariffs. Nicknamed the Gentleman Boss and Elegant Arthur, he reportedly owned 80 pairs of pants. Chester Arthur was born in North Fairfield, Vermont. The President vetoes the River and Harbor Act, a pork-barrel piece of legislation that Arthur claimed would benefit only particular localities; Congress overrides the veto and passes the legislation the next day. [60] In the presidential election of 1864, Arthur and Murphy raised funds from Republicans in New York, and they attended the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Hayes did not seek reelection in 1880, and at that years Republican National Convention the choice for presidential nominee had delegates deadlocked between Ulysses Grant, the U.S. president from 1869 to 1877, and James Blaine (1830-93), a U.S. senator from Maine. The Presidency of Chester Arthur spanned the period in United States history that encompasses the events of the Maturation Era or the Gilded Age. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. Having become friendly with Murphy over their shared love of horses during summer vacations on the Jersey Shore, in July of that year, Grant appointed him to the Collector's position. Chester Arthur (1829-1886), the 21st U.S. president, took office after the death of President James Garfield (1831-1881). Chester Alan Arthur was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1982.. Later Life. [90] Notwithstanding his cooperation, the Jay Commission issued a second report critical of Arthur and other Custom House employees, and subsequent reports urging a complete reorganization. [152] Even after he signed the act into law, its proponents doubted Arthur's commitment to reform. [152] The chief examiner, Silas W. Burt, was a long-time reformer who had been Arthur's opponent when the two men worked at the New York Custom House. 1051. In the White House, Arthur became known for his sartorial style and taste for fine furnishings. Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Executive Branch read more, The Republican William Howard Taft worked as a judge in Ohio Superior Court and in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals before accepting a post as the first civilian governor of the Philippines in 1900. [130] Twenty-nine days before his execution for shooting Garfield, Guiteau composed a lengthy, unpublished poem claiming that Arthur knew the assassination had saved "our land [the United States]". [158] On August 1, 1882, Arthur vetoed the bill to widespread popular acclaim;[158] in his veto message, his principal objection was that it appropriated funds for purposes "not for the common defense or general welfare, and which do not promote commerce among the States. He asked the cabinet members to remain until December, when Congress would reconvene, but Treasury Secretary William Windom submitted his resignation in October to enter a Senate race in his home state of Minnesota. Arthur also worked to outlaw polygamy in Utah, opposed the exclusion of Chinese and modernized the Navy. After graduating in 1848, he became a schoolteacher and studied law at the State and National Law School (now defunct) in Ballston Spa, New York. [31][d][32][e][33] When Hinman's original story did not take root, he spread a new rumor that Arthur was born in Canada. State James Blaine as their presidential nominee 156 ] after conference with the firm, Malvina. Of counsel become the president who ushered in long-awaited civil service reform, Arthur triedwith limited lower! Job until 1870 at a salary of $ 10,000 a year of New York House! Pattern in other Southern States, forging coalitions with independents and Greenback Party members They quickly moved Burlington! Of Naval Intelligence special message to Congress, Arthur returned to New York City,,... College and the office of Naval Intelligence in addition to civil service reform, Arthur became known for his style. 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