Chester A. Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur, surely our unlikeliest president, may have been saved from complete obscurity only by the mutton-chop whiskers that stand out among the full-bearded visages of late-nineteenth-century presidents. But as this highly readable portrait of Arthur and his age reveals, duty’s unexpected call turned the quintessential patronage politician into a statesman who skillfully guided America’s first steps on the road to becoming a world power.No one is likely to follow Arthur’s path to the White House again. A product of the spoils system that once governed the federal civil service, Arthur had been rewarded for his loyalty to the Republican machine with the most lucrative patronage position in the country—customs collector of the Port of New York. In 1880, having never held elective office, he was chosen as James Garfield’s running mate in a bid to heal a factional rift in the party. When Garfield’s death from an assassin’s bullet early in his term made Arthur president, dismay