Fun Presidential Facts – Chester Arthur

Here are some quick facts, opinions, quotes and other information on President Chester Arthur:

Personal Information on Chester Arthur:

Twenty-first President (1881-1885)

Birthday: October 5, 1829 (Monday)
Birthplace: Fairfield, Vermont
Birthplace Website: President Chester Arthur’s Birthplace
Zodiac Sign: Libra

Date of Death: November 18, 1886 (Thursday)
Place of Death: New York City, New York
Place of Burial: Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, New York
Cause of Death: Stroke
Age: 57 years old
Length of Retirement: 624 days
Burial website: Chester Arthur’s Grave

Interesting Chester Arthur facts:

James Garfield won the election of 1880 and Chester Arthur was chosen as his Vice President. It is the only time in our history that a President and a Vice President were both generals. Garfield and Arthur were both brigadier generals in the Civil War. As a side note, in the election of 1880, Garfield and Arthur, both Republicans, ran against Winfield S. Hancock who was a Democrat. Hancock was a major general in the Civil War.
Chester Arthur is one of four Presidents who never had a Vice President for the entire time they served as President. The other three are: John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, and Andrew Johnson. All four of these were serving as Vice President when a President died in office and they were never elected President on their own. Thirteen other Presidents have spent at least part of their term without a Vice President. Those thirteen Presidents are: Madison, Jackson, Pierce, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft, Coolidge, Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, and Ford.
New York is the State where most of our Presidents have died. Nine Presidents have died in New York, including Chester Arthur. The other eight Presidents who have died in New York are: Monroe, Van Buren, Fillmore, Grant, McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Hoover, and Nixon. Washington DC has had the second most Presidential deaths with seven. Then far back in third place is Virginia with four Presidential deaths.

My favorite Chester Arthur Quotes:

Since I came here I have learned that Chester A. Arthur is one man and the President of the United States is another.

As is natural with contiguous states having like institutions and like aims of advancement and development, the friendship of the United States and Mexico has been constantly maintained.

Men may die, but the fabrics of free institutions remains unshaken. (on the death of President James Garfield)

The office of the Vice-President is a greater honor than I ever dreamed of attaining.

Chester Arthur blogs (click the title to go to that page):

Chester Arthur page on Presidential Crossroads (click “Chester Arthur” below):

Chester Arthur

Chester Arthur Blogs:

The Teacher

Continuing Garfield’s Legacy

Was He Born in the USA?

Presidents Who Put Our Country First

Top Ten Least Popular Presidents

Personal thoughts on Chester Arthur:

Strengths:

Flexible, Timing

Weaknesses:

Patronage ties

Presidential Greatness Scale (1-poor to 5-great): 3.1

Comments:

When President Garfield was shot almost four months after he was elected President, he hung on to his life for a little more than two months. Garfield was shot by a man, Charles Guiteau, who was seeking a patronage job. When Garfield basically ignored his request, Guiteau set out to assassinate Garfield, and he succeeded. Arthur, who was Vice President, didn’t want to appear like he was a vulture waiting for Garfield to die, so he stayed in New York (Congress was in recess anyway) the entire time of Garfield’s attempted recovery. He was still in New York when he heard of Garfield’s death. This lead the nation to rethink the patronage question and even die-hard patronage supporters, like Arthur, could see the writing on the wall. Arthur more quickly became reform minded than some of the other patronage supporters, which surprised many. Arthur would serve out most of Garfield’s term, but only one of Garfield’s cabinet members would remain with him until the end of his term and that was Garfield’s Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s son. Still, Arthur had a $145 million surplus in 1882. Arthur urged a very cautious approach to spending this surplus or decreasing taxes for that matter. He would get overridden by Congress on some of his efforts here. Our Navy, which had about 700 vessels during the Civil War, was down to about 52 vessels upon his arrival. He recommended, and was successful, in increasing the size of the new Navy with more modern ships. He also led the way to better treatment of the Native Americans. To look at his tenure, you might be surprised by the similarities between today’s headlines on immigration and tariffs. Personally, on most issues, I think he did a pretty good job keeping us moving in a positive direction following the death of a President.

Favorite Chester Arthur book:

Gentleman Boss: The Life and Times of Chester Alan Arthur by Thomas C. Reeves

Favorite Chester Arthur story:

Chester Arthur was a die-hard patronage supporter. Patronage was a “to the victor belongs the spoils” political system. Under patronage, whoever won the election got to pick all the people for government jobs. When President Garfield, a die hard reformer (favored merit over patronage for government employment), was shot and died in office, Chester Arthur became President. To everyone’s surprise, Arthur continued Garfield’s push for reform.

Most memorable Chester Arthur memory:

Visiting what used to be his home in New York City. They are now apartments and underneath is a herb store.

Favorite Chester Arthur possession (see picture at the top):

Old Chester Arthur TCG card