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Chester Alan Arthurb. 5 Oct 1829 (1830?), Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont |
| 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 Congress, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
| 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. [2] | |
| 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 [3] | |
| 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. [4] | |
| 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: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005); Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents (1903), vol. 8; The New-York Times, New-York, Friday, November 19, 1886, vol. XXXVI, No. 10,988, p. 1 (obituary). | |||||||||||||||||||
| Elections: | |||||||||||||||||||
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| * 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. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| [1] | Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 1386-1387. | ||||||||||||||||||
| [2] | Congressional Record, 46th Congress, 3rd Session, 2430. | ||||||||||||||||||
| [3] | The New-York Times, New-York, Tuesday, September 20, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9371, p. 1. | ||||||||||||||||||
| [4] | The Washington Post, Washington, Friday, September 23, 1881, Number 1,260, p. 1; The New-York Times, New-York, Friday, September 23, 1881, vol. XXXI, No. 9374, p. 5. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Image: photograph by C.M. Bell. | |||||||||||||||||||
This page was last updated on: 17 Dec 2011 09:56:26
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