Early Years and Schooling

Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829, in the village of Fairfield, Vermont. He was the son of William Arthur, a Baptist minister, and Malvina Stone. William Arthur was restless and moved constantly from one town to another. In 1839 he settled at Union Village (now Greenwich), in eastern New York.

Chester was admitted to Union College in Schenectady, New York, when he was only 15. To support himself financially, he began to teach during the long winter vacations. After graduating at age 18, he studied law while continuing to teach.

Defender of Civil Rights

Arthur became a lawyer in 1854 and joined a law firm in New York City. As a lawyer, he became known for his antislavery principles. In the famous Lemmon slave case, Arthur represented slaves whose master had brought them temporarily to the free state of New York. The court decided that the slaves had become free while passing through New York.

Arthur also represented Lizzie Jennings, an African American woman who had been forced off a Brooklyn streetcar reserved for whites. Arthur won 500 dollars in damages for her and obtained a court decision forbidding discrimination in public transportation.

Marriage and Family

Arthur married Ellen Lewis Herndon in 1859. Their first son, born in 1860, died before he was 3 years old. Another son, born in 1864, was named after his father but was called Alan. In 1871 the couple had a daughter, whom they named Ellen Herndon Arthur.

Entry into Politics

Arthur became active in local politics in the 1850s. He played an important role in the organization of the new Republican party in the state of New York. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, he was named quartermaster general of New York State's troops. This meant that he was in charge of housing and organizing the troops.

Arthur resumed his law practice in 1863. Through his political activities, he became closely associated with Senator Roscoe Conkling, the Republican boss of New York. In 1868 Arthur worked with Conkling on Ulysses S. Grant's successful presidential campaign. Arthur was rewarded for his efforts in 1871, when President Grant appointed him customs collector for the port of New York City.

Arthur continued the Custom House practice of giving jobs to people who supported Conkling. In 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes succeeded Grant as president and decided to reform the Custom House. In 1878 he suspended Arthur, who returned to his law practice.

Vice Presidency

The Republican party was seriously divided in 1880. Conkling led a conservative group called the Stalwart Republicans. At the Republican National Convention, the Stalwarts tried to nominate Grant for a third term. The liberal Half-Breed Republicans supported Senator James G. Blaine. The deadlock ended with the unexpected nomination of a compromise candidate, James A. Garfield. To make sure the Stalwarts would help in the election, the convention nominated Arthur for vice president. The Republicans won the election and Arthur took the nation's second-highest office.

Presidency

Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881, and was gravely wounded. Upon his death in September, Arthur became the country's 21st president. The public considered him unqualified for the post. However, his simple and sincere inaugural address helped to reassure the people.

In his first message to Congress, Arthur surprised everyone by promoting civil-service reform. In 1883 he signed the country's first civil-service law, the Pendleton Act. This act made it harder to hire and fire government employees on the basis of their politics.

The first laws to limit immigration to the United States were passed during Arthur's administration. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted the immigration of Chinese laborers for a ten-year period.

Arthur is called the Father of the American Navy because of his role in modernizing and expanding that branch of the military. He recommended spending increases that later helped to transform the ships of the United States Navy into one of the world's great fleets.

Arthur's popularity grew with each year of his presidency. He allowed his name to be put forward for the Republican presidential nomination in 1884, but he was defeated by James G. Blaine. Arthur finished his term, attended the inauguration of Democrat Grover Cleveland, who won the general election, and then returned to New York City. He died at his home on November 18, 1886.