Chester A. Arthur
US President
1829 – 1886
Who was Chester A. Arthur?
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States; he succeeded James Garfield upon the latter's assassination. At the outset, Arthur struggled to overcome his reputation, stemming from his beginnings in politics as a politician from the New York City Republican political machine. He succeeded by embracing the cause of civil service reform. His advocacy for, and subsequent enforcement of, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was the centerpiece of his administration.
Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vermont, but he grew up in upstate New York and practiced law in New York City. He served as quartermaster general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Following the Civil War, he devoted more time to Republican politics and quickly rose in the political machine run by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. Appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to the lucrative and politically powerful post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871, Arthur was an important supporter of Conkling and the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party. In 1878 the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, fired Arthur as part of a plan to reform the federal patronage system in New York.
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- Born
- Oct 5, 1829
Fairfield - Also known as
- Chester Arthur
- Chester Alan Arthur
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
(1859/10/25 - )
- Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur
- Children
- Religion
- Episcopal Church
- Ethnicity
- Scotch-Irish American
- White people
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- Union College
(1845 - 1848) - State and National Law School
Law
( - 1853)
- Union College
- Employment
- Headmaster, North Pownal Academy
(1849 - )
- Headmaster, North Pownal Academy
- Lived in
- Vermont
- Died
- Nov 18, 1886
New York City - Resting place
- Albany Rural Cemetery
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
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"Chester A. Arthur." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/chester_a_arthur>.
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