 |
Chester Alan Arthur
b. 5 Oct 1829, Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont [1]
d. 18 Nov 1886, New York City, New York |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
19 Sep 1881 - 4 Mar 1885 |
| Chronology: |
9 Feb 1881,
election to the office of Vice President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 1 Dec 1880 and 8 Dec 1880),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
4 Mar 1881,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1881,
took the oath prescribed by law, regular session of the Senate, Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [3] |
|
19 Sep 1881,
entered upon the duties of the office of President of the United States upon the death of an incumbent |
|
20 Sep 1881,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, private ceremony, 123 Lexington Avenue, New York City [4] |
|
22 Sep 1881,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony, Office of the Vice President, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [5] |
|
4 Mar 1885,
expiration of term |
| Biography: |
| Son of a Baptist minister, who was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States; graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York (1848); attended a law school at Ballston Spa, New York; became principal of an academy in North Pownal, Vermont (1851); entered the law office of Erastus D. Culver in New York City as a student (1853); admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in New York City; took an active part in the reorganisation of the State militia; during the Civil War, served as acting quartermaster general of the State in 1861; commissioned inspector general (10 Feb 1862), appointed quartermaster general (10 Jul 1862) with the rank of brigadier general, and served until 1862; retired from the office (31 Dec 1862); resumed the practice of law in New York City; appointed by President Ulysses Grant as collector of the port of New York (1871-1878); continued to take an active part in politics, became chairman of the executive committee of the Republican State committee (1879); on retiring from the office of collector resumed the practice of law with the firm of Arthur, Phelps, Knevals & Ransom; was elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with President James A. Garfield; upon the death of Garfield, became President of the United States (19 Sep 1881 - 4 Mar 1885); returned to New York City; replaced six of the seven members of Garfield's cabinet with his own appointees, but his appointments were generally unexceptionable; displayed an unexpected independence by his veto in 1882 of an $18,000,000 rivers and harbors bill that contained ample funds for projects that could be used for political patronage; vetoed a Chinese exclusion bill barring Chinese nationals from admission as immigrants to the United States (both presidential vetoes were overridden by Congress); signed into law the Anti-Polygamy Act, aimed at the Mormons in Utah; supported the Pendleton Act (1883), which created a federal merit-based civil-service system applying to a limited number of specified offices; recommended the appropriations that initiated the rebuilding of the U.S. Navy; retired to New York City at the end of his term. |
| Biographical sources:
"Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester A. Arthur", by Thomas C. Reeves (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975); Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, vol. 8; New York Times, No. 10,988, 19 Nov 1886, p. 1 (obituary). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (1 Dec 1880) * |
| |
including votes from Georgia |
excluding votes from Georgia |
| Chester Alan Arthur |
214 |
214 |
| William Hayden English |
155 |
144 |
| total number of electors appointed |
369 |
358 |
| number of votes for a majority |
185 |
180 |
|
| * As Georgia had cast her vote on the second Wednesday of December (8 Dec 1880), a day different from that prescribed by law, two tabulations were made, one including and the other not including Georgia's eleven votes (Concurrent Resolution of the U.S. Congress of 5 Feb 1881, Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1129-1141, 1257-1263). |
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1387. |
| |
| [1] |
"The Mystery of Chester Alan Arthur's Birthplace", by Thomas C. Reeves, in Vermont History, vol. XXXVIII, No. 4, Autumn 1970, pp. 291-304. |
| [2] |
Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1386-1387. |
| [3] |
Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 2430. |
| [4] |
New York Times, No. 9371, 20 Sep 1881, p. 1. |
| [5] |
Washington Post, No. 1,260, 23 Sep 1881, p. 1; New York Times, No. 9374, 23 Sep 1881, p. 5. |
| |
Image: photograph by C.M. Bell. |
