Chester Alan Arthur was born in 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont (although he would later list his birth year as 1830 to make people think he was a year younger). His father William had been born in Ireland. William was a Baptist preacher, a school-teacher, a magazine editor, and co-founder of the New York Anti-Slavery Society.

Chet had four older sisters and a younger brother. He was named Chester after the physician who delivered him and he was named Alan after his Irish grandfather (his middle name is pronounced the Irish way).

The family moved often throughout Vermont and New York. Chet attended the academy in Union Village, then the Lyceum where he edited the school newspaper and brawled with students who didn’t support the Whigs. He entered Union College in 1845. He played pranks such as throwing the West College Bell into the Erie Canal and he carved his name on the college buildings. He was president of a debating society and taught school to help pay his expenses. At 18, Chet published a short story in his dad’s magazine. He graduated in the top third of his class.

His dad got him a job as principal of an academy that met in a church basement. In 1852, he became principal for the academy at Cohoes where his sister Malvina was a teacher. He was beloved by his students.

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1854. He had a law practice in New York. He was six feet, two inches tall and slender. He was one of the lawyers involved in the Lemmon Slave Case, which freed slaves who were being transported through New York. In 1854, Elizabeth Jennings, a black school teacher, was roughed up by a streetcar conductor for refusing to leave a car reserved for whites. Arthur won her legal case which led to all New York railroads becoming integrated.

In 1856, Chet was introduced to his future wife, Ellen “Nell” Lewis Herndon, by his friend who was also her cousin. She was a small, frail woman of 19, an only child and an excellent singer. She was born in Virginia, but had spent most of her life in Washington D.C. Her family owned slaves.

Arthur visited Bleeding Kansas where pro- and anti-slavery factions had started the Civil War early. Like many of the time, he believed he could strike it rich by speculating in land in the area. He bought two or three hundred lots. A political meeting he attended in Leavenworth erupted with an outburst of gunfire. A stagecoach he took to Lawrence overturned several times on the treacherous road and he, riding outside, had to leap for his life. In Lecompton, while dining with the governor, the man seated next to Arthur was dragged from his seat, charged with murder.

Chet stayed in Kansas a few months, but left when his fiancé’s father died. Her father, Captain William Lewis Herndon, was in command of a steamship which sprang a leak after being hit by a furious gale. Captain Herndon made sure all the women and children were evacuated. By then, it was too late for him to leave and he bravely went down with the ship.

Arthur took over the legal and financial duties for his future mother-in-law. He married Nell in 1859 and moved into his mother-in-law’s home. They had a son in 1860. (I wonder if they had slaves during this time.)

He joined the state militia after returning from Kansas and was commissioned judge advocate of the Second Brigade. He attended the governor on state occasions wearing his military uniform. By the time he was 30, Arthur had powerful friends in the Republican party.

In 1861, the governor appointed him engineer-in-chief with the rank of brigadier general. When the Civil War broke out, he was assigned to the Quartermaster General’s office in New York City. He was in charge of feeding, housing, clothing, and equipping thousands of men. There was a lot to do and Arthur only got three hours of sleep a night for several months.

He was soon promoted to Quartermaster General. He had to deal with unruly volunteer troops who plundered local restaurants, played pranks, and didn’t follow army regulations. Troops once got on a ship and left without supplies and he had to hurriedly buy supplies and send them after. He also inspected forts and defenses as part of his job. He did an exemplary job and in fact, his two years as Quartermaster were the high point of his life.

Arthur quit the war when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and didn’t intend to vote for Lincoln in the next election. His wife and her family were all loyal to the Confederacy, including her cousin who was Arthur’s close friend. He would jokingly refer to Nell as his “little rebel wife” but visitors saw tension between the two. Arthur’s sister Malvina married a member of the Confederacy and lived in the south during the first two years of the war.

During the remainder of the Civil War, Chester returned to his law practice, focusing on war claims. He and his wife both had expensive tastes, fortunately his law practice was prosperous. He was able to hire Irish immigrants as servants, somewhat ironic since his father was an Irish immigrant. He and his brother were somewhat estranged from their parents due to falling away from their parent’s faith. (Chester would occasionally attend the Episcopal church for appearance’s sake, but wasn’t particularly devote.) His parents had fallen on hard times, but Arthur didn’t help them out.

Arthur’s son died in 1863, only two years old. He and Nell believed he died due to them making too many intellectual demands on him, so they indulged their second son born the next year. Chet’s brother William was shot in the face during the war, leaving him nearly deaf and with a facial scar.

Arthur wanted to be a politician. He cared more about gaining political influence than political ideals, thus his positions matched those of the party leaders. He was friendly with other political hopefuls. Fond of cigars and whiskey, he enjoyed telling humorous stories and limericks. He was described as cheery and full of talk, but not intellectual. By 1867, he was a representative of the 18th Assembly District in New York.

Also in 1867, Arthur worked on the campaign to get Ulysses S. Grant elected president. In 1869, he was made counsel to the New York City tax commission which came with a good salary. Since Boss Tweed got him the job, he no doubt had to pay Tweed back by skimming some money off the top for the Tweed Ring, but Arthur destroyed any records that would have indicated this.

During Grant’s presidency, Roscoe Conkling succeeded Thurlow Weed as the new boss in charge of New York politics and he took Chester Arthur under his wing. At the time, both parties engaged in the spoils system. When a new person was elected, he’d fire most of the civil servants and replace them with his political supporters regardless of their qualifications. People given such jobs were required to pay assessments, a certain amount of their salary given to the party for campaign purposes. Politically-appointed civil servants also took part in campaigning, often acting as an organized mob to drown out opposition, because their jobs depended on it.

Calls for civil service reform led to an investigation of the lucrative New York Customhouse which revealed the corruption of Arthur’s close friend Tom Murphy. As Murphy’s attorney, Arthur would have been aware of Murphy’s real estate holdings with the corrupt Tweed Ring and other shady dealings he was involved in. Murphy had to resign, but the president allowed him to pick his successor. He picked Arthur to succeed him in the highest paying job in the federal government.

About 75 percent of the country’s customs receipts were collected at the New York Customhouse. By 1877, this was about 108 million dollars. It was said to do five times as much business as the greatest business house. It was the largest federal office in the nation and the greatest source of political jobs. Theoretically, the collector should have commercial and administrative experience, but in reality, it was a political appointment and the most important thing was to keep all the party chieftains happy by dispensing spoils.

Arthur was popular when he became the collector in 1871. He was friendly with businessmen and they appreciated his knowledge of law and commerce. He lowered storage rates by 35 to 40 percent. In a show of transparency, he made his correspondence with cabinet members public. He also got along well with his subordinates, fighting against congressmen who wanted to reduce salaries and personnel. When a commission caused a large reduction in the workforce, Arthur reportedly burst into tears.

As part of Grant’s civil service reform, the Customhouse was supposed to conduct examinations, but Arthur’s friend Silas Burt found the applicants were limited to people Arthur wanted to hire. Only three people took the test. Their answers were clearly wrong, but they got hired anyway. Arthur cared about loyalty to party over competence or merit. He got jobs for many friends and family members.

He also required his employees to pay assessments even though these were now illegal. He got into an argument with Burt who refused to pay it. When Burt pointed out the corruption of Arthur’s other friends, he called him a goody-goody fellow who set such a high standard for morality that other people couldn’t reach it. He lied to the Civil Service Commission, claiming he didn’t require assessments, but rather claimed his subordinates had paid them voluntarily without his knowledge.

Arthur was likely aware of the Whiskey Ring, a scheme to avoid paying taxes on distilleries, since he was highly involved in Republican politics throughout the nation and the Whiskey Ring donated a lot of money to Republican causes. Also, his close friends were involved.

Something called the moiety system divided Customhouse fines and forfeitures among the federal government, customs officials, and informers, but this system was ended due to the Phelps Dodge case. The importing firm Phelps, Dodge, and Company practiced undervaluations by using duplicate invoices. The Customhouse charged them $271,017.00 to make up for this, but they only really owed $1,664.68.

Arthur was aware of and profited from the fraud, but avoided trouble by simply claiming he didn’t know anything about it. However, the moiety system ended and Arthur’s salary dropped from $56,000 a year to just $12,000.

The Arthur family enjoyed a comfortable life during the 1870s. They had five servants, private tutors for their children, and took expensive vacations. They spent lavishly on appearances. Chet dressed in the latest fashions imported from England. (He spent $125.25 on hats alone between February and October 1875.) In 1880, he joined the Restigouche Salmon Club, an association of forty New York gentlemen who constructed a private fishing and shooting preserve.

In 1875, Arthur’s father was on his deathbed. Chet visited and told his father he’d stay with him a long time, but instead he left early and wasn’t there when his father died.

To help Hayes get elected, Arthur required his employees to pay a “voluntary” contribution of 4 or 5 percent of their salaries to the Republicans. Burt was the only employee who refused to pay.

Hayes publicly endorsed civil service reform, which would be bad for Arthur and Conkling. However, he accepted their use of the civil service to drum up campaign contributions and votes, so his endorsement might just be words. Conkling hedged his bets, claiming to support Hayes in public although he didn’t do much campaigning, while also secretly supporting his Democratic opponent Tilden.

When Hayes entered the White House, he launched an investigation into the Customhouse, Conkling’s source of power. The Jay Commission found the Customhouse was overstaffed with incompetent political appointees. As many as a third of the employees had nothing to do. There were over a million dollars a year in accounting errors. Some staff moonlighted at other jobs when they were supposed to be working at the customhouse. Corruption was rampant. Smugglers paid bribes to prevent their baggage from being investigated. Liquor companies were forced to provide free booze to Customhouse employees. People were hired and fired for purely political reasons.

The Customhouse was required to fire 20 percent of its workforce. President Hayes issued an order forbidding assessments and forbidding federal officers from taking part in politics. Hayes asked for the resignation of Arthur, but Conkling used his influence in the Senate to keep Arthur where he was and he continued his fraudulent activities as before.

When John F. Smyth, State Superintendent of Insurance was charged with committing fraud, Arthur wined and dined state senators to acquit him, even though Smyth admitted to breaking the law.

The Meredith Committee documented numerous Customhouse frauds including undervaluations, false classifications, improper weights and measures, and illegal damage allowances. After this second investigation, the president suspended Arthur while Congress was out of session.

Conkling intended to bring Arthur back at the next session, but in the meantime, the new collector made $164 million in the intervening months, proving Arthur’s corruption and inefficiency cost the country a lot of money. While he was collector, his expenses increased while collections diminished. When Arthur claimed there was no evidence against him, his opponents brought in a wheelbarrow full of documents before the Senate floor. The Senate voted to keep the new collector. Arthur was out.

He returned to his law practice. He’d made further land investments and had inherited some money when his mother-in-law died, so he was doing fine financially. He continued to be involved in New York politics serving under Roscoe Conkling to help Republicans get elected.

Arthur would often stay up until 3 AM talking politics, smoking cigars, and eating and drinking with his friends. His wife didn’t appreciate his neglect of her and the two were on the verge of separation when Nell died from pneumonia in 1880 at the age of 42. Due to his late nights, Chet often didn’t show up to work until 1 PM. He also gained quite a bit of weight, weighing as much as 225 pounds, but he laced up to conceal this.

When Garfield won the Republican nomination for president, Conkling got to pick his running mate since New York was key to winning. Conkling picked Arthur. This alone wasn’t enough for New York to support Garfield, however. Garfield also had to give the impression that he would allow the New York patronage system to continue and only select their picks for public office.

Conkling and Arthur campaigned for Garfield, however Conkling did so half-heartedly and didn’t even mention Garfield’s name at one rally, making Garfield question his commitment. Arthur continued to raise funds by demanding “voluntary contributions” from civil servants who wanted to keep their jobs and gained votes for Garfield by simply paying people to vote for him.

Democrats spread rumors that Arthur was ineligible for office because he was born in Ireland or Canada, not the US, but since the vice president doesn’t hold much power, this didn’t make much of a splash.

When Garfield won, the Conkling people asked him for appointments like they’d agreed, but he claimed he’d made no agreement with them. Since they helped him win the election, he was willing to give them some appointments, but not everything they wanted. He enraged Conkling by appointing a new collector to the NY Customhouse, an appointment Conkling was determined to block in the Senate. When he was unable to, Conkling resigned, but tried to get reelected to fill his own vacant seat. Arthur tried to help him, but Conkling no longer had the power he once did and was not reelected.

The man who assassinated President Garfield said he did it to make Arthur president. No major newspapers thought he was really working for Arthur since his mental illness was obvious, but many did blame the assassination on the spoils system since the assassin had been an office seeker. As a political boss, Chester A. Arthur, was the embodiment of the spoils system.

Although Garfield had been his enemy, Arthur mourned for him. Some suggested he serve as President while Garfield was bed-ridden, but he refused. He remained in New York rather than go to Washington so no one would get the impression he was eager to assume the presidency.

During this time, Chet received a letter from an unknown woman named Julia Sand, who would become his pen pal. She told him bluntly that everyone was dreading his presidency and even his friends were urging him to resign. However, she said, he had a great opportunity to turn over a new leaf and reform. He could prove everyone wrong by championing civil service reform. Although his better nature had remained dormant so far, he now had a chance to rise to the occasion.

When Garfield died a month later, Arthur sat alone in his room and sobbed like a child. He was sworn in as president and vowed to continue Garfield’s work. Since Garfield’s tragic death had moved public opinion regarding civil service reform, Arthur couldn’t simply undo what Garfield had done. He realized that he couldn’t appoint Conkling to his cabinet as he would be viewed as Conkling’s puppet. He couldn’t be lenient to his friends who committed the postal star route frauds after Garfield had intended to hold them accountable. He also couldn’t replace Garfield’s choice of Collector for the Customhouse.

He urged Garfield’s cabinet to remain for the time being, but sensing they wouldn’t be welcome, most resigned. He replaced most of them with Stalwarts, the branch of the Republican party to which Conkling belonged. However, as he distributed patronage, he did next to nothing for the Conklingites in New York and he didn’t make Conkling Secretary of State like he wanted. He offered Conkling a seat on the Supreme Court, but Conkling declined.

When he moved into the White House, his youngest sister Mary Arthur McElroy, a married mother of four, served as First Lady, handling the social duties associated with the White House. Arthur thoroughly renovated the White House, auctioning off twenty-four wagon loads of furniture and household items, some dating back to the first Adams administration. He added gold leaf, India brass work, jeweled glass screens, and panels of Japanese leather.

White House parties consisted of the best liquors, excellent cuisine and expensive cigars. In less than a full term, he gave fifty state dinners, not counting numerous private parties. Tables were sometimes set with a bouquet of roses at each lady’s plate and a boutonniere for each gentleman. The first state dinner had fourteen courses which came with eight varieties of wine, each served in its appropriate glass.

There were thousands of people in attendance and sometimes musical guests such as opera companies. Arthur dressed to impress. He always wore tuxedos to dinner. He designed his own coat of arms and presidential flag. He preferred to stay up late, strolling through the streets of Washington with friends, (but without a bodyguard), as late as two or three in the morning.

He didn’t care much for the job of president. He was full of worry and uncertainty and often looked unwell at work. He showed up to work late, often procrastinated, and members of his staff would have to force him to attend to matters at hand. He brought official-looking documents with him to appointments to make it look like he was busy. He had someone else write his addresses to Congress for him. It once took him a month to copy a letter of condolence prepared for him.

He didn’t have much sway with Congress and was content for the most part to stay out of congressional affairs, although he did use his veto power. When Congress passed a bill to suspend Chinese immigration for twenty years and to deny US citizenship to the Chinese, Arthur vetoed it, asking Congress to reduce the duration to ten years, which they did.

The outgoing Secretary of State Blaine had invited the Latin American countries to an inter-American peace conference in Washington, hoping to end the wars between Chile and Peru and between Mexico and Guatemala. The new Secretary of State Frelinghuysen advised Arthur to seek congressional approval for the conference and the proposal died in committee.

Arthur mostly kept the Republicans happy by giving jobs to Republicans of different factions, and removing very few civil servants. He allowed assessments to continue as long as they were voluntary contributions.

After Congress adjourned in 1882, Arthur surprised his pen pal Julia Sand in New York with a visit. She was young, unmarried, and suffered from lameness and deafness. She referred to herself as his “little dwarf” (the only member of a royal court who dared tell the king the truth.)

Even though he had known the postal star routes were being used to fraudulently raise funds for the Republicans, Arthur followed through on his promise to prosecute his friends involved in the fraud. After an extremely long trial, the jury acquitted the defendants, despite the fact there were over a hundred witnesses and thousands of pages of documents, and the fact that one of the defendants had pleaded guilty! There was good reason to suspect the jury had been tampered with. Arthur was not happy. Even though the fraudsters weren’t convicted, future postal fraud was stopped, saving the country $2 million a year.

Before the midterm elections of 1882, Arthur forged alliances with Readjusters, a group of southerners who were in favor of equal rights for black people. In Virginia, they repealed the poll tax, enfranchising 20,000 black men, established a black college, and black schools. Arthur himself contributed funds to a black church and awarded diplomas to graduates of a black high school in Washington. He’d also appointed black people to several government positions, and repeatedly urged Congress to provide federal aid to black education, which Congress ignored.

The significant Republican losses in the midterm election made it clear the people wanted Civil Service Reform. Congress passed and Arthur signed civil service reform legislation which states that tens of thousands of government jobs should be merit-based rather than politically appointed, and assessments would no longer be required, although “voluntary contributions” would remain. Enforcement of the act was left up to the president. Arthur surprised many by actually enforcing it.

In addition to civil service reform, Arthur was also instrumental in reforming the Navy, which had fallen into such extreme disrepair it was inferior to the navies of several Latin American states. Many navy officers were incompetent political appointments who treated ships under their command as private yachts. Working with Congress, Arthur approved the construction of new steel ships (the current navy ships were mostly wood). His Secretary of the Navy also did his best to root out incompetent officers.

Arthur was in favor of assimilating Native Americans and got Congress to fund dozens of Native American schools. He resisted attempts by Congress to open up Indian Territory to white settlers. He used an executive order to protect Zuni land from relatives of Senator Logan. However, he did open the Crow Creek Reservation in Dakota Territory to settlement.

To the general public, Arthur was mainly known for his lavish parties. When he attended the opera, the orchestra would play Hail to the Chief and he was met with thunderous applause. However, Arthur concealed a private pain. He had Bright’s Disease, a kidney affliction which can cause nausea, depression, and indolence (which might explain his lackadaisical approach to work). He had grown thin and feeble. He began to work even less than before.

He went fishing, horseback riding, and walking to try to improve his health. In 1883, he took a vacation to Florida to escape the cold Washington D.C. winter. However, the Florida heat was worse for his health. The crowds of people wanting to meet him made him irritable. He also caught malaria from a mosquito, making his health even worse. During the trip, he was so sick, the doctor thought him near death. He was unable to swallow coffee.

He wanted his illness kept secret, but it was leaked to the press. He considered it unmanly and undignified for others to know of his pain. He preferred to suffer privately so he wouldn’t be an object of pity. When he got back to Washington, he claimed he was perfectly healthy. After attending to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, however, it took him a week to recover. When he got back to Washington, it would often take until noon or one for him to show up to work.

In order to ensure Yellowstone National Park was conserved and not given away to monied interests, Senator George Vest arranged a tour for several dignitaries, including the president. Arthur was interested in preserving public forests and was against their wasteful destruction. Of course, his main reason for going was he hoped the rest and relaxation would help his health.

When he returned to Washington, he claimed to be in perfect health, but confessed to his doctor that he was in great pain, his legs swollen with Bright’s disease. He expected to live only a few months or at most a few years longer. He remained in the race to seek reelection, but he didn’t want to win. He returned a large campaign donation and told his friends not to campaign for him, although some did. He lost the Republican nomination.

As his time as president drew to a close, Arthur tried to push through several treaties: one, to build a canal in Nicaragua, four reciprocity treaties to encourage trade with four other countries, and an agreement with Leopold II of Belgium regarding the Congo Free State in Africa. None of them passed.

He resumed his law practice upon leaving the presidency, although his health was so poor he was frequently too ill to leave home. The day before he died, he asked a friend to burn all his official and personal papers. He’d said there were many things in his political career he’d wished had been different. He advised his son never to go into politics. The price had been too high.

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As I’ve been reading my way through presidential biographies, I’ve been trying to rank presidents based on how many people lived or died because of their actions. Due to his illness, Chester A. Arthur was largely a hands-off president and he didn’t have much influence with Congress.

He blocked attempts by Congress to allow white settlers to steal Native American lands, which may have saved lives, however he allowed settlers onto the Crow Creek Reservation, which may have cost lives.

His secretary of state canceled the Pan-American peace conference Garfield’s secretary of state had set up. Perhaps this resulted in lost lives, but perhaps not.