Chester Alan Arthur

by Zachary Karabell

Book Overview

The Gilded Age bon vivant who became America's unlikeliest chief executive-and who presided over a sweeping reform of the system that nurtured him

Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805069518
• ISBN13: 9780805069518
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Times Books
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Overall decent book

I only give this book 3 stars out of five because I felt like some things from his pre-presidency and some things from his presidency were left out. I feel like some things got downplayed where other things that were less than important, were given more attention. Just my opinion, overall decent book

One of the best in the series

Not many people today know who Chester A. Arthur is. And that's a shame. Arthur may not have been the greatest president or even a good one, but as Zachary Karabell demonstrates, Arthur deserves as lot better than to be relegated to forgotten status among the pantheon of our presidents. Arthur didn't want to be president. He never sought the office. But his is a truly American story. Arthur was a self made man who gained prominence as an attorney then became active in Republican politics in New York state where he ultimately landed the best patronage job the country had to offer - head of the New York customs house. He could have given in to the temptation of the times to steal from the coffers. But he didn't. Arthur's tenure was above board and much praised. Though he was a party loyalist, Arthur resisted pressure when he ascended to the presidency to bow to party wishes, most notably to his patron Roscoe Conkling, the boss of New York, whom he owed his career to. Nobody expected much from Arthur as president, but he turned out to have done a good job while in office. He vetoed unfair immigration legislation, and while he didn't introduce civil service reform, put his signature on the bill which effectively ended the spoils system, and undertook to modernize the Navy. Arthur was also a gracious social host while in the White House and a true gentleman. I learned a lot from this book and found new appreciation for a president that I did not know a lot about. Karabell's writing style is very enjoyable. It breezes along and does an good job capturing the politics of the times. While not a great president, Arthur certainly did nothing to injure the prestige of the office while on his watch and was a competent chief executive. This is a highly readable and interesting entry in the series and well worth the time.

His own man, but not good at the "vision thing"

I've read most of the books in this series and, along with Ted Widmer's volume on Martin Van Buren, I consider Zachary Karabell's story of Chester Alan Arthur among the most pleasant surprises of the list. At the outset, Karabell concedes the challenge he faces in bringing Arthur and his presidency to life: "Arthur belongs to two select, and not altogether proud, clubs: presidents who came to office because of the sudden death of their predecessor, and presidents whose historical reputation is neither great, nor terrible, nor remarkable." But Karabell nonetheless succeeds in crafting a most enjoyable read. The secret I think is Karabell's careful elaboration of Arthur's era, the context of the times, that being the post-Civil War era, a time of ideological fatigue, much like another later, tumultuous period after the first world war that would be described as a "return to normalcy". In that sense, Arthur, who grew up in New York, was very much a man of his times. Arthur became a firm party man, but not an ideologue. Nor was he a controversial leader or front man. Arthur was instead the consumate "insider", loyal to his patrons, first New York's governor Edwin Morgan, and later, that state's U.S. Senator, Roscoe Conkling. As a largely behind the scenes man, Arthur excelled at organizing, raising money, and handling people. He ultimately arose in the state's party to become the Collector of the New York Customs House, a critical post at the time, responsible for handling much of the country's world trade and in the era before income taxes, much of the federal government's revenue. It was a lucrative position, but one which would become an early, central focus of the civil service reform battles through the 1870's and '80's. Prior to his nomination as vice-president on the ticket headed by James A. Garfield in 1880, Arthur had never been elected to, or ever run for, any public office; rather, Arthur held a series of appointed positions and benefited greatly from that era's patronage, or spoils, policies, practiced by both political parties. But the spoils era was fast coming to an end, and ironically Arthur would be on hand to help usher in a new period of a more professionalized public service. The shooting death of President Garfield by someone originally thought to be a "disgruntled office-seeker" in 1881, followed by large gains by the Democrats in Congress in the 1882 elections, led to the passing in Congress of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act in January of 1883. Arthur, the poster-child of party patronage, signed the bill into law. Although it initially covered only a small portion of the federal workforce, the Pendleton Act set the stage for the greater standardization of the civil service in later years and helped end the spoils system. Long used to acting behind the scenes to more well-known political leaders, Arthur nonetheless asserted himself once he inherited the presidency. Arthur largely kept his former patron, Conk

A nearly forgotten president

Back in the post Civil War days when many plum governmental jobs were gotten from political bosses, Chester A. Arthur had one of the best patronage jobs of all, collector at the US Customhouse in New York. Prior to the federal income tax, this was the country's principal source of income. The collector, under the perfectly legal rules of that time, got a commission on what he collected as well as a comfortable salary. If you paid an assessment to the party, you might be able to secure a patronage job. From this system arose the career of Arthur. The Republican party was divided into factions. The stalwarts (who had been Ulysses S. Grant supporters) were led by Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York. There was a reform wing of the party and then there was a faction, led by James Blaine of Maine (hmmmm that rhymes) called the half breeds. Arthur was aligned with the stalwarts and the patronage system. As a stylish New York lawyer who was in to the local social scene, he was happy being part of the bureaucracy. At times, he would lose his spoils system position in the bureaucracy due to politics but, he always had his law practice to fall back on. In 1880, his life changed as he ended up as a sort of unoffending compromise candidate for vice president on the ticket led by James Garfield. They were elected and shorly thereafter, Garfield was assasinated. Arthur, who had no aspirations ended up as president. He was as reluctant to assume the presidency as the rest of the nation was to have him take that office. There were low expectations for Arthur, after all, he was never elected to office other than as Grafield's running mate. However, although he may not have been a great leader, there were significant accomplishments during his term. Most notable was the Pendleton Civil Service Act which began the breakup of the spoils system from which Arthur had arisen. Arthur took moral stands opposing an anti Chinese immigrant piece of legislation and a pork barrel Rivers and Harbors bill. His opposition to both led to their being significantly modified but, he didn't have the political clout to ultimately prevent either from being enacted. All he really did was cut his stalwart ties without creating any real new alliance with the reformers. Arthur was ill. He had a kidney disease. Also, he really didn't want to be president. However, pride made him seek the nomination in 1884. He had cut himself off from his stalwart base and was not renominated. The Republican nominee, Blaine, lost a close election to Grover Cleveland. All in all, Arthur wasn't a bad president and perhaps deserves to be remembered in history. However, he was not a great president either. The picture that author Zachary Karabell paints is of a president whose legacy may be that he did a decent job of presiding over a period of peace and prosperity.

A LAIDBACK, GENTLEMAN PRESIDENT

The author, Zachary Karabell, writes an interesting, brief biography of Chester Alan Arthur the obscure 21st president of the United States. The text states "Chester Alan Arthur hadn't wanted to become the nation's chief executive. He certainly hadn't aspired to be vice president" and Karabell further notes "....Chester Alan Arthur may have the distinction of being the president who derived the least amount of pleasure from being president." Prior to becoming vice president he had been custom collector for the Port of New York, a well-paid lawyer and head of the New York Republican Party but had never been elected to public office. He ran as Garfield's vice president in 1880, a campaign notable for what it lacked; "It was a contest of organization and will, not a battle over the future direction of the country." Ideology was ignored with politicians viewing "order as the most important good." With Garfield's assassination, Arthur became president on September 20, 1881. The text notes "No one knew what direction the Arthur administration would take, not even Arthur himself" and observes "As it turned out, the qualities he did possess allowed him to rise farther than many others who were more intelligent, dynamic, and driven." He was president in an era when "the White House had shed much of the power it had acquired during the Civil War" and each national election was a patronage contest. The assassination of Garfield placed the issue of civil service reform on the front burner. The response was the Pendleton Civil Service Act, the most memorable legislation to emerge from Arthur's presidency. Zachary Karabell's account of Arthur's presidency is brief but informative. Besides civil service reform, the text covers Arthur's handling of Indian affairs, the Anti-Chinese sentiment, and his veto of the Rivers and Harbors Bill. However, in 1882 the Republicans lost control of the House and Arthur's chances for a second term were slim. Perhaps Author's most important contribution to the country was his resuscitation of the military. The army was somewhat sustained because of the Indian wars, but in less than twenty years since the Civil War, the navy had lost almost 90 percent of its ships. Arthur emphatically supported a plan to build ships "designed for offense and attack" and the text notes without Arthur "....[Teddy] Roosevelt and McKinley might not have had a navy capable of annihilating the Spanish in 1898." In addition, this helped to prepare the United States for the foreign affair challenges of the twentieth century. Having lost his base support, Arthur was not nominated for a second term. The 1884 election was won by Grover Cleveland, a Democrat. As he left office Arthur was the object of warm political eulogies and the author writes "Arthur had become president with perilously low expectations, which he then exceeded. In essence, most people concluded that the Arthur administration hadn't been half bad." He died at age 56 less than

An intriguing look at an overlooked president

This is a fascinating book. Although it is relatively brief, it paints a detailed portrait of a gilded age - not unlike our own -and of one privileged politician who rose above the spoils system to restore integrity and style to the White House. Karabell's style is breezy and informative, but his narrative is deeply serious, and relevant to students of history, and of the current political factions. For anyone who cares about the true possibility for reform in a system so riven with partisan strife, I urge you to read this book!