[37], After graduating in 1848, Arthur returned to Schaghticoke and became a full-time teacher, and soon began to pursue an education in law. The case helped lead to the desegregation of public transportation in New York City. In addition, he indulged his military interest by becoming Judge Advocate General for the Second Brigade of the New York Militia. [147] Before the second trial began, Arthur removed five federal office holders who were sympathetic with the defense, including a former senator. Chester A. Arthur's Civil War Service Before the Civil War Arthur joined the state militia in 1858 as a means of forming political connections. 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. 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. Secretary of State James G. Blaine resigns due to political differences between himself and President Arthur. Arthur approves a bill to appoint a tariff commission; the commission eventually recommends tariff reductions. [19][c] The family remained in Fairfield until 1832, when William Arthur's profession took them to churches in several towns in Vermont and upstate New York. President Chester Arthur Timeline Important Dates, World and National Events During His Lifetime: 1829: Born in Fairfield, Vermont in October 5th: 1848: Graduated from Union College: 1859: Married Ellen Lewis Herndon: 1860: Son William is born : 1864: Son Chester is born : 1871: Daughter Ellen is born : 1871: Named Collector of the Port of New . [37] During his winter breaks, he served as a teacher at a school in Schaghticoke. This man was Chester A. Arthur. President Arthur became known as the ''Father of the Steel Navy'' as he pushed for the military to use new steel technology in building and expanding its capabilities. Arthur also worked to outlaw polygamy in Utah, opposed the exclusion of Chinese and modernized the Navy. 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. Chester A. Arthur served as America's twenty-first president from September 19, 1881, to March 4, 1885. Chester Arthur was selected as his running mate. [9], Chester Alan Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vermont. Chester Alan Arthur was born in the village of Fairfield, Vermont, on October 5, 1829. [168] Three years later, after China had agreed to treaty revisions, Congress tried again to exclude working class Chinese laborers; Senator John F. Miller of California introduced another Chinese Exclusion Act that blocked entry of Chinese laborers for a twenty-year period. He was a member of the ultra exclusive Restigouche Salmon Club. [190] During Arthur's presidency, settlers and cattle ranchers continued to encroach on Native American territory. He served as quartermaster general of the New York Militia during the American Civil War. The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with Chester A. Arthur, including the Chester Alan Arthur Papers. [224], "Chester Alan Arthur" and "Chester Arthur" redirect here. [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. This lesson will examine the major events of Chester A. Arthur's presidency. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. Garfield.Arthur succeeded the presidency upon Garfield's death in September 1881two months after being shot by an assassin. [84] Arthur and the machine gathered campaign funds with their usual zeal, but Conkling limited his own campaign activities for Hayes to a few speeches. [143] Frelinghuysen advised Arthur not to fill any future vacancies with Stalwarts, but when Postmaster General James resigned in January 1882, Arthur selected Timothy O. Howe, a Wisconsin Stalwart. [163] Arthur and Frelinghuysen continued Blaine's efforts to encourage trade among the nations of the Western Hemisphere; a treaty with Mexico providing for reciprocal tariff reductions was signed in 1882 and approved by the Senate in 1884. France presents the United States with the Statue of Liberty at a ceremony held in Paris. [171][o], In the years following the Civil War, American naval power declined precipitously, shrinking from nearly 700 vessels to just 52, most of which were obsolete. Major Events During Arthur's Presidency As president, Chester A. Arthur achieved four major things: Civil Service Reform Limiting Immigration Building a Modern Navy Arthur also. Chester Alan Arthur 21st President of the United States (September 19, 1881 to March 3, 1885) Nickname: "The Gentleman Boss"; "Elegant Arthur" Born: October 5, 1829, in Fairfield, Vermont Died: November 18, 1886, in New York, New York. Upon the murder of James Garfield in 1881, Arthur became the twenty-first president of the United States. Early in the summer of 1857, Chester Arthur, a young lawyer from New York City, accompanied by his partner, Henry D. Gardiner, came to Kansas to settle and grow up with the country. [122] The running mates, never close, detached as Garfield continued to freeze out the Stalwarts from his patronage. [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. In the elections of the year 1880, Chester Arthur was elected vice-president alongside James Garfield. President Chester Arthur represented the Republican . [1] [68][g] Arthur resigned after Democrats controlled by William M. Tweed of Tammany Hall won a legislative majority, which meant they could name their own appointee. [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. [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. "[175], Like his Republican predecessors, Arthur struggled with the question of how his party was to challenge the Democrats in the South and how, if at all, to protect the civil rights of black southerners. Windup Teacher. His father, William Arthur, had immigrated to the United States from northern Ireland when he was 18 and had become a Baptist minister. [204] His health limited his activity with the firm, and Arthur served only of counsel. [142] Despite Arthur's personal appeal to remain, MacVeagh resigned in December 1881 and Arthur replaced him with Benjamin H. Brewster, a Philadelphia lawyer and machine politician reputed to have reformist leanings. Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 - November 18, 1886) was an American politician who served as the twenty-first President of the United States.Arthur was a member of the Republican Party and worked as a lawyer before becoming the 20th vice president under James Garfield.While Garfield was mortally wounded by Charles Guiteau on July 2, 1881, he did not die until September 19, at which . [94] The Senate's Commerce Committee, chaired by Conkling, unanimously rejected all the nominees; the full Senate rejected Roosevelt by a vote of 3125[95] and similarly turned down the nomination of Prince by the same margin, later confirming Merritt only because Sharpe's term had expired. Dignified, tall, and handsome, with clean-shaven chin and side-whiskers, Chester A. Arthur "looked like a President." The son of a Baptist preacher who had . Although Chester Arthur had risen to power through machine politics, once in the White House he surprised Americans (and alienated Conkling and other supporters) by moving past partisanship. Early in the Civil War he served as quartermaster general of New York state. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. In a special message to Congress, Arthur asks the legislature to appropriate funds for naval reconstruction work. Under this system, elected officials rewarded their supporters with political appointments in their administrations. Son: Chester Alan Arthur, Jr. (socialite . Put simply, he performed well in office, defying his state-based reputation as a slick machine politician. Arthur was president from 1881-1885, and his presidency was mostly unremarkable, except for a few major events. Chester Alan Arthur was an American attorney and politician who served as the 21st President of the United States (1881-85); he succeeded James A. Garfield upon the latter's assassination. Arthur became a member of the New York State Militia in the late 1850s, although he never saw combat. [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. The following material is what I have learned in American Government for only but one year, I have still learned more than what I already knew at the beginning of my high school career. I have gained a better understanding of the American political system as well as the history of the system. Arthur was the second vice president to become chief executive due to an assassination. That treaty allowed only a "reasonable" suspension of immigration. [187] In 1882, he signed the Edmunds Act into law; the legislation made polygamy a federal crime, barring polygamists both from public office and the right to vote. [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. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), he was quartermaster for the state of New York, responsible for organizing food and supplies for Union soldiers. [148] The second trial began in December 1882 and lasted until July 1883 and, again, did not result in a guilty verdict. [96], Arthur's job was spared only until July 1878, when Hayes took advantage of a Congressional recess to fire him and Cornell, replacing them with the recess appointment of Merritt and Silas W. [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. Garfield won the Republican nomination for president in 1880, and Arthur was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket as an Eastern Stalwart. [175] He gave full authority to his new Secretary of Navy William E. Chandler, Hunt's successor. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes fired Arthur as part of a plan to reform the federal patronage system in New York. Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. 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. [160] Republicans considered the law a success at the time, but later concluded that it contributed to their loss of seats in the elections of 1882. 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. [112] Arthur thought otherwise and accepted. [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. His Baptist minister father, William Arthur, hailed from Ireland, and his mother, Malvina Stone Arthur, was from Vermont. The President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site was the first historic site owned by the State of Vermont. He kept the condition a secret from the public; however, his poor health prevented him from actively seeking reelection in 1884. Congress passes a bill repealing the 1862 test oath, which required office holders to swear they had never engaged in illegal or disloyal conduct. OTSCSupplies. When he became president after Garfield's assassination, Arthur surprised his party in 1883 by signing the Pendleton Act, which . [125] Immediately, the Democrats attempted to organize the Senate, knowing that the vacancies would soon be filled by Republicans. He vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended Chinese immigration for 10 years; however, Congress overrode his veto. Major events during the Arthur administration included, civil service reform, an effort to combat postal fraud, unsuccessful tries at meaningful tariff reform and wasteful spending. [182] Some black Republicans felt betrayed by the pragmatic gambit, but others (including Frederick Douglass and ex-Senator Blanche K. Bruce) endorsed the administration's actions, as the Southern independents had more liberal racial policies than the Democrats. As president from 1881 to 1885, Arthur advocated for civil service reform. Chester Arthur (1829-1886), the 21st U.S. president, took office after the death of President James Garfield (1831-1881). 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. 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