Quick Facts Also Known As: Chester Alan Arthur Died At Age: 57 Family: Spouse/Ex-: Ellen Herndon father: William Arthur mother: Malvina Stone siblings: Mary McElroy Born Country: United States Lawyers Presidents political ideology: Republican Died on: November 18, 1886 place of death: New York, United States Cause of Death: Cerebral Hemorrhage Arthur requested standardized time 6. Displayed in the 1953 reconstruction of the boyhood home of Chester A. Arthur, the exhibit panels examine the life and career of the 21 st President of the United States, who was born in Vermont on October 5, 1829. 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. Chester A. Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont, and was one of the ten children of William Arthur and Malvina Stone. [149] In 1880, Democratic Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio introduced legislation that required selection of civil servants based on merit as determined by an examination. [70] In 1871, Grant offered to name Arthur as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, replacing Alfred Pleasonton; Arthur declined the appointment. On the 36th ballot, James Garfield, a Civil War general and congressman from Ohiowas chosen as the compromise candidate. Arthur made appointments to fill two vacancies on the United States Supreme Court. [191], Shortly after becoming president, Arthur was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a kidney ailment now referred to as nephritis. [214] On April 5, 1882, Arthur was elected to the District of Columbia Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) as a Third Class Companion (insignia number 02430[215]), the honorary membership category for militia officers and civilians who made significant contributions to the war effort. Arthur is remembered primarily for three things: He was never elected to the presidency and two significant pieces of legislation, one positive and the other negative. Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. [72] Murphy's reputation as a war profiteer and his association with Tammany Hall made him unacceptable to many of his own party, but Conkling convinced the Senate to confirm him. He later was removed from the job by President Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893) in an attempt to reform the spoils system. 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. [3], Suffering from poor health, Arthur made only a limited effort to secure the Republican Party's nomination in 1884, and he retired at the end of his term. Entering the territory by crossing the Missouri at St. Joseph, they came down to the west side of the river to Leavenworth, where they remained and investigated . When New Yorkers elected Democrat Horatio Seymour governor in November 1862, Arthur lost his position to a member of the other party. By the end of the project, Washington Roebling's health had deteriorated considerably. [44] In another civil rights case in 1854, Arthur was the lead attorney representing Elizabeth Jennings Graham after she was denied a seat on a streetcar because she was black. [133] Through the summer, Arthur refused to travel to Washington and was at his Lexington Avenue home when, on the night of September 19, he learned that Garfield had died. [121] The Electoral College result was more decisive214 to 155and Garfield and Arthur were elected. His Baptist minister father, William Arthur, hailed from Ireland, and his mother, Malvina Stone Arthur, was from Vermont. Important event: Chester Arthur (1829-1886), the 21st U.S. president, took office after the death of President James Garfield (1831-1881). [128][l], While in Albany on July 2, Arthur learned that Garfield had been shot. With great fanfare, the granite monument marking what was believed to have been the site of Chester A. Arthur's birth was dedicated in 1903 on land granted to the State of Vermont by Peter Bent Brigham Northrop. These restraints distinguished him sharply from the stereotype politician. [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. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. Garfield. [105] Arthur and the machine had rebuked Hayes and their intra-party rivals, but Arthur had only a few days to enjoy his triumph when, on January 12, 1880, his wife died suddenly while he was in Albany organizing the political agenda for the coming year. It was widely evaded. [145] Reformers feared Arthur, as a former supporter of the spoils system, would not commit to continuing the investigation into the scandal. Arthur receives Korean ambassadors in New York. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. in 1883. [88] Sherman was less enthusiastic about the reforms than Hayes and Jay, but he approved the commission's report and ordered Arthur to make the personnel reductions. [87] Jay, with whom Arthur had collaborated in the Lemmon case two decades earlier, suggested that the Custom House was overstaffed with political appointments, and that 20% of the employees were expendable. Arthur takes office as vice president in the presidential administration of James Garfield. [165], The 47th Congress spent a great deal of time on immigration, and at times was in accord with Arthur. 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. The son of a Baptist preacher who had emigrated from northern Ireland, Chester A. Arthur was America's 21st President (1881-85), succeeding President James Garfield upon his assassination. [193] The vacation had the opposite effect, and Arthur suffered from intense pain before returning to Washington. When the war broke out on July 27, 1862, three weeks after President Lincoln's call for 300,000 more men, Arthur was appointed quartermaster-general and oversaw the construction of a huge tent city in City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan, where thousands of men gathered, were provisioned, and sent to war. A sharp dressed man 9. [97][i] Hayes again offered Arthur the position of consul general in Paris as a face-saving consolation; Arthur again declined, as Hayes knew he probably would. "[159] Congress overrode his veto the next day[158] and the new law reduced the surplus by $19 million. [75] Grant then nominated Arthur, with the New York Times commenting, "his name very seldom rises to the surface of metropolitan life and yet moving like a mighty undercurrent this man during the last 10 years has done more to mold the course of the Republican Party in this state than any other one man in the country. 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. Previously the 20th vice president,. [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. Born in Fairfield, Vermont, on October 5, 1829, Arthur was an educator, lawyer, and army officer before being appointed as customs collector of the Port of New York (1871-78). Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. In addition, contemporary newspaper articles, including the 1871 stories about his appointment as Collector of the Port of New York, all indicate that he was born in Vermont, though some incorrectly give his birthplace as. Mary Ruth teaches college history and has a PhD. In the Senate, Republicans take one seat and gain a 38-36 majority (with two seats filled by minor parties). David L. Anderson, "The Diplomacy of Discrimination: Chinese Exclusion, 18761882", New York State Republican Executive Committee, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, List of presidents of the United States by previous experience, Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, "Rating the Presidents: Washington to Clinton", "Top 10 Forgettable Presidents: Fail to the Chief; Chester A. Arthur", "Then Again: A Vermont politician faces the 'birthers'. [81] Nevertheless, the movement for civil service reform continued to chip away at Conkling's patronage machine; in 1874 Custom House employees were found to have improperly assessed fines against an importing company as a way to increase their own incomes, and Congress reacted, repealing the moiety system and putting the staff, including Arthur, on regular salaries. Following a funeral in Manhattan, the former president was buried beside his wife in the Arthur family plot in the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York. His father was a preacher. The concept of a cigar-store Indian installed in the White House was finally a reassurance to the frightened American people. A Vermont native, he became active in Republican politics in the 1850s as a New York City lawyer. For years, government jobs in the United States had been distributed via the spoils system. "[154], With high revenue held over from wartime taxes, the federal government had collected more than it spent since 1866; by 1882 the surplus reached $145 million. Arthur's status in the administration diminished when, a month before inauguration day, he gave a speech before reporters suggesting the election in Indiana, a swing state, had been won by Republicans through illegal machinations. The United States recognizes the independence of Korea, although Korea's future is uncertain because of Chinese, Russian, and Japanese manipulations. Arthur worked for one of the most prominent law firms in New York City. Chester A. Arthur 21st United States President Previous Next In office Sep. 19, 1881 - Mar. 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. This law created a 10-year ban on all Chinese immigration to the United States and prohibited Chinese immigrants already in the country from becoming U.S. citizens. [203] Instead, Arthur nominated Samuel Blatchford, who had been a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for the prior four years. (He suffered from Bright's disease, a then-fatal kidney ailment.) [37] During his winter breaks, he served as a teacher at a school in Schaghticoke. [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). [200] Blatchford accepted, and his nomination was approved by the Senate within two weeks. In 1859, Arthur married Ellen Nell Lewis Herndon (1837-1880), the Virginia-born daughter of a U.S. naval officer. The son of an Irish-born Baptist minister who had immigrated to the U.S., Chester Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vermont, in 1829. In the general election, Garfield and Arthur defeated Democratic nominee Winfield Hancock (1824-1886) and his running mate William English (1822-1896), and were sworn into office on March 4, 1881. Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 - November 18, 1886) was the fourth Totally Obscure President of the United States, serving from 1881 through 1885. Arthur issues a proclamation warning people not to settle on Oklahoma lands. President Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland attend the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. [65] His ascent in the party hierarchy kept him busy most nights, and his wife resented his continual absence from the family home on party business. At the outset, Arthur struggled to overcome a negative reputation as a Stalwart and product of Conkling's organization. [99] Conkling opposed the confirmation of Merritt and Burt when the Senate reconvened in February 1879, but Merritt was approved by a vote of 3125, as was Burt by 3119, giving Hayes his most significant civil service reform victory. [117] Realizing this, they adjusted their approach to claim that Democrats would lower the country's protective tariff, which would allow cheaper manufactured goods to be imported from Europe, and thereby put thousands out of work. Elected to the vice presidency in 1880, Arthur became president after Garfield died following an assassination attempt by a disgruntled job seeker. Chester Arthur was selected as his running mate. Chester A. Arthur served as America's twenty-first president from September 19, 1881, to March 4, 1885. [200] Arthur nominated Horace Gray, a distinguished jurist from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to replace him, and the nomination was easily confirmed. Nell Arthur died of pneumonia at age 42, less than two years before her husband became president. 0. They wanted some sort of reforms. [179] Even without the additional ships, the state of the Navy improved when, after several construction delays, the last of the new ships entered service in 1889. [43] In Lemmon v. New York, Culver argued that, as New York law did not permit slavery, any slave arriving in New York was automatically freed. [61], The end of the Civil War meant new opportunities for the men in Morgan's Republican machine, including Arthur. Employees were required to make political contributions (known as "assessments") back to the machine, which made the job a highly coveted political plum. In the elections of the year 1880, Chester Arthur was elected vice-president alongside James Garfield. [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. It remains a symbol of engineering prowess. The United States and Luxembourg conclude an extradition treaty in New York. Copyright 2022. 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. Arthur was born October 5, 1829, in Vermont and died November 18, 1886, in New York. 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