Chester Alan Arthur: The President Who Didn’t Want to Be Pre…
Chester Alan Arthur loved being vice president: parties galore, and no responsibilities. After the death of James Garfield, Arthur had to deal with the music. How did he react? Daily Wire Host Michael Knowles informs Arthur’s distinct story.
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Script:
When a New York Times reporter sought out Vice President Chester Alan Arthur to get a statement following the death of President James Garfield, Arthur’s valet turned the reporter away. “He is sitting alone in his room,” the valet discussed, “sobbing like a child.”
To be President of the United States was the last thing Arthur wanted. Vice President, a position with endless privileges and almost no duties, that was the task for him. And he was having a grand time of it up until an assassin’s bullet changed whatever.
Garfield did not die immediately. There were days when it looked like he would recover, however then he would fade again. It didn’t help that his physicians utilized their unwashed hands to try to recover bullet pieces.
When Garfield lastly succumbed on September 19, 1881, Arthur needed to deal with the music.
He was now the twenty-first President of the United States.
A minimum of he looked the part. A fastidious dresser (he was understood to try on twenty sets of pants before picking one), he cut an imposing figure. He was heavy set with a thick mustache and mutton chop sideburns.
Born in Fairfield, Vermont on October 5, 1829, he was the fifth of nine kids. His father was a preacher and committed abolitionist whose strong views on this subject required him to move the household from town to town. In spite of never being in one location for long, Arthur made friends easily. A diligent student, he went to Union College, became president of the dispute society, and pursued a law degree.
As a legal representative, Arthur took a lead role in significant civil liberties cases, consisting of one that led to the desegregation of the New York City tram lines.
After the Civil War where he increased to the rank of brigadier prominent and basic himself as a quartermaster– the person responsible for getting materials to the soldiers– he abandoned the law for politics. This pulled him into the orbit of notorious political manager New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. Arthur’s loyalty to Conkling paid off when he was granted the post of Collector at the New York Customs House, a position that paid over $50,000 annually– more money than any federal officeholder, including the President.
Ending Up Being Vice President was, from a financial point of view, an action down. Access to federal patronage– the opportunity to give cushy federal government tasks to his political buddies– didn’t injured either.
All of a sudden Arthur wasn’t Vice President anymore. He had the leading task now.
And the job altered him.
In among the least anticipated and most remarkable turnabouts in governmental history, the essential maker politician, a guy who as soon as extolled vote purchasing, ended up being the President who enacted the most sweeping civil service reform in fifty years. Much to the annoyance of his pals, a lot of specifically Conkling, he became an apostle of clean government and set the tone for future reforms that occurred after he left office.
The weight of the office had a deep result on Arthur, however so did an amazing correspondence he had with a young Manhattan invalid by the name of Julia Sand. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, she assiduously tracked Arthur’s every move. Much more remarkable, Arthur read her letters and took her recommendations to heart.
” Great emergencies awaken generous traits, which have actually lain dormant …” she wrote him in one letter. “If there is a spark of real nobility in you, now is the occasion to let it shine …”.
And it did.
Civil service reform was only one of Arthur’s accomplishments. Another was his passion to rebuild the American Navy which had actually been woefully disregarded because the Civil War. It required a contemporary Navy if the nation desired to be a significant gamer on the world phase. Arthur asked for eleven new, state-of-art steel ships. Congress offered him four. It was a start.
Arthur also worked to secure the rights of Chinese immigrants. And real to his abolitionist training, his policy towards blacks– he appointed a number of them to essential federal government posts– was among the best of the post-Civil War presidents.
One aspect of Arthur’s personality that did not alter was his love of entertaining. The White House, which he firmly insisted on redecorating (it was too dull), was celebration main.
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Chester Alan Arthur loved being vice president: celebrations galore, and no duties. To be President of the United States was the last thing Arthur desired. In spite of never being in one place for long, Arthur made friends easily. Arthur’s commitment to Conkling paid off when he was granted the post of Collector at the New York Customs House, a position that paid over $50,000 per year– more money than any federal officeholder, consisting of the President.
Civil service reform was only one of Arthur’s achievements.
