[156] After conference with the Senate, the bill that emerged only reduced tariffs by an average of 1.47%. - Facts & Biography, Thomas Jefferson's Role in the Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson: Inventions & Accomplishments, Thomas Jefferson's Home at Monticello: History & Facts, Monticello, Jefferson's Home: Architecture & Garden, Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: Relationship & Children, Thomas Jefferson: Domestic, Economic & Foreign Policies, Alexander Hamilton & Thomas Jefferson: Relationship & Differences, Thomas Jefferson & the Constitutional Convention, Thomas Jefferson & Religion: Views & Quotes, President Thomas Jefferson's Cabinet: Members & Overview, Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin: Relationship & Comparison, Western Civilization From 1648 to Today: Certificate Program, Western Civilization Since 1648: Homework Help Resource, American History Since 1865: Tutoring Solution, Post-Civil War U.S. History: Help and Review, DSST The Civil War & Reconstruction: Study Guide & Test Prep, Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators - Writing (5723): Study Guide & Practice, Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading (5713) Prep, Praxis Social Studies: Content Knowledge (5081) Prep, Praxis Business Education: Content Knowledge (5101) Prep, History 106: The Civil War and Reconstruction, CAHSEE English Exam: Test Prep & Study Guide, Geography 101: Human & Cultural Geography, Chester A. Arthur: Facts, Accomplishments & Quotes, Chester A. Arthur Lesson for Kids: Biography & Facts, Medal of Honor Recipient Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, Cartesian Rationalism vs. Lockean Rationalism, Rational Ignorance vs. Hallmarked Chester. [108] Neither candidate commanded a majority of delegates and, deadlocked after thirty-six ballots, the convention turned to a dark horse, James A. Garfield, an Ohio Congressman and Civil War general who was neither Stalwart nor Half-Breed. 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. [155] Arthur agreed with his party, and in 1882 called for the abolition of excise taxes on everything except liquor, as well as a simplification of the complex tariff structure. [33][f][34], Arthur spent some of his childhood years living in the New York towns of York, Perry, Greenwich, Lansingburgh, Schenectady, and Hoosick. As president, Chester A. Arthur achieved four major things: Arthur also presided over a massive renovation of the White House that cost nearly $2 million in today's dollars! He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, graduating in 1848. 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. Arthur formally takes the oath of office in Washington, DC. After James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, Chester A. Arthur became President of the United States. 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. Chester Alan Arthur: 5th President of the United States. Previously the 20th vice president,. This was a very ironic situation, because the reason Guiteau assassinated . The Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge to be built across the East River linking New York City and Brooklyn. 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. Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail. At the outset, Arthur struggled to overcome a slightly negative reputation, which stemmed from his early career in politics as part of New York's Republican political machine. When New Yorkers elected Democrat Horatio Seymour governor in November 1862, Arthur lost his position to a member of the other party. https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/chester-a-arthur. The portion of the law denying citizenship to Chinese-American children born in the United States was later found unconstitutional in, Earlier in 1874, during the Grant administration, Congress approved funds to rebuild four. Copyright 2022. Chester, or Chet, as he was known, attended Union College in Schenectady, New York. 1.The best biography of Chester Arthur remains Thomas C. Reeves, Gentleman Boss: The Life and Times of Chester Alan Arthur (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975). [50] Arthur was commissioned as a brigadier general and assigned to the state militia's quartermaster department. To satisfy the Stalwart faction, delegates chose New York Customs House collector Chester A. Arthur (1829-86) as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. [37] During his winter breaks, he served as a teacher at a school in Schaghticoke. Congress passes an act regarding civil government in Alaska. [63], At the time, U.S. custom houses were managed by political appointees who served as Collector, Naval Officer, and Surveyor. The Arthurs had four daughters when Chester was born. As the economy soured after the Panic of 1873, Chinese immigrants were blamed for depressing workmen's wages; in reaction Congress in 1879 attempted to abrogate the 1868 treaty by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act, but President Hayes vetoed it. To Consent to the Nomination of Theodore Roosevelt as Collector of Customs at New York. Secretary of State James G. Blaine resigns due to political differences between himself and President Arthur. [153] That year, Arthur expressed satisfaction with the new system, praising its effectiveness "in securing competent and faithful public servants and in protecting the appointing officers of the Government from the pressure of personal importunity and from the labor of examining the claims and pretensions of rival candidates for public employment. Son: Chester Alan Arthur, Jr. (socialite . Chester Alan Arthur was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1982.. Later Life. [128][l], While in Albany on July 2, Arthur learned that Garfield had been shot. The most important events of his administration were the passage of the Tariff Act of 1883 and of the "Edmunds Law" prohibiting polygamy in the territories, and the completion of three great transcontinental railwaysthe Southern Pacific, the Northern Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa F. [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. When Arthur was nominated for vice president in 1880, a New York attorney and political opponent, Arthur P. Hinman, initially speculated that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. [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. During Chester Arthurs childhood, his family moved around Vermont and upstate New York for his fathers work. [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. [205] In 1889, a monument was placed on Arthur's burial plot by sculptor Ephraim Keyser of New York, consisting of a giant bronze female angel figure placing a bronze palm leaf on a granite sarcophagus. He became a lawyer, served as an engineer in the American Civil War, and later became Collector of the Port of New York, where he was responsible for supervising the collecting of import duties on goods coming into the United States. [66], Conkling succeeded to leadership of the conservative wing of New York's Republicans by 1868 as Morgan concentrated more time and effort on national politics, including serving as chairman of the Republican National Committee. 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. [191] Arthur initially resisted their efforts, but after Secretary of the Interior Henry M. Teller, an opponent of allotment, assured him that the lands were not protected, Arthur opened up the Crow Creek Reservation in the Dakota Territory to settlers by executive order in 1885. Following the war, he devoted more time to New York Republican politics and quickly rose in Senator Roscoe Conkling's political organization. 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 . September 19, 1881 James Garfield dies The family finally settled in the Schenectady, New York area. Ten fun facts about Chester A. Arthur. Before he moved into the White House, Chester Arthur hired designer and stained-glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) to redecorate the state rooms. 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. Two days later, in Washington, D.C., Arthur was given the oath of office by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Recognizing the disgraceful state of the U.S. Navy, Arthur signs a bill appropriating funds for the Navy's first steel vessels. In the midterm elections, Democrats gain 50 seats in the House giving them a 197-118 majority (ten remaining seats were filled by minor parties). [197] He kept up a token effort, believing that to drop out would cast doubt on his actions in office and raise questions about his health, but by the time the convention began in June, his defeat was assured. 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 . Later that day, both personally congratulated Washington Roebling. [121] The Electoral College result was more decisive214 to 155and Garfield and Arthur were elected. [184], Other federal action on behalf of blacks was equally ineffective: when the Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), Arthur expressed his disagreement with the decision in a message to Congress, but was unable to persuade Congress to pass any new legislation in its place. [149] Republicans lost seats in the 1882 congressional elections, in which Democrats campaigned on the reform issue. It was widely evaded. [13] Malvina Stone met William Arthur when Arthur was teaching school in Dunham, Quebec, near the Vermont border. Sometime around 1882, Arthur learned he was suffering from Brights disease, a serious kidney ailment. In 1854, he was admitted to the New York bar and began practicing law in New York City. [89] Arthur appointed a committee of Custom House workers to determine where the cuts were to be made and, after a written protest, carried them out. [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. Arthur was a member of the Republican Party and worked as a lawyer before becoming the twentieth vice president under James Garfield. Oct 5, 1829 - Nov 18, 1886 Chester Alan Arthur was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. 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