Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885

"I don't think we had better go into the minute secrets of the campaign, so far as I know them, because I see the reporters are present, who are taking it all down. If it were not for the reporters, I would tell you the truth."

Chester Alan Arthur is without a doubt my favorite president.  Yes, out of all 43 of them.  Yes, I prefer him over TR, Lincoln, and Washington.  Almost everyone who has ever heard me say that I like him has considered it to be a big joke.  That "almost everyone" includes the man who taught me AP US History, some of my closest friends, and... well just about everyone except my little sister who I personally taught about presidents.  And so what better way to spend a night on the Internet then finally and formally defending my boy Chet?

Arthur is without a doubt not the greatest president of all time.  He isn't even close.  But a person's favorites are not always the best.  There are fans of the Baltimore Orioles, the Detroit Lions, and Boris Said, why not Chester Arthur?

Let's get this point out of the way.  Chester Arthur can be very funny.  I've heard a comment that he looks like a tuskless walrus.  I looked at a picture again and chuckled to myself as I realized it was true.  There's also something to be said for his facial hair.  I really wish we could get some good presidental facial hair now, but that's another blog.  The man had 80 pairs of pants.  Not only did he have 80 pairs of pants, but he often changed pants more than once in a single day.  All of this is information worth laughing at.  And yes, it does help me call him my favorite.  Who would want a boring old not funny president for their favorite?

Now we come to some actual facts about what the man did.  He was the son of Irish-born and Vermont-born parents in 1829.  (Over 40 years later he changed some records to make himself seem a year younger.  Mid-life crisis?)  He was a lawyer who helped bring forth some decisions for blacks' rights and anti-slavery in New York prior to his presidency, and was eventually appointed Collector of the Port of New York by President Grant.

Here's where it gets interesting.  Many people in this position prior to Chester were often working in ways that were... well they were doing things that were illegal.  Arthur was removed from this position by the next president, Rutherford B. Hayes, in Hayes' attempt to combat such corruption based upon the spoils system.  (The spoils system is basically giving people government jobs because they helped you out or agree with you politically.)

In the next presidental election, James Garfield is chosen as the Republican candidate.  However the Party has two factions.  Garfield is a Half-Breed.  To appease the other faction, the Stalwarts, Chester Arthur is nominated as VP.  Long story short, they win.  Garfield becomes the 20th President and Arthur becomes the 20th Vice President.

All is fine and dandy until Garfield is assassinated.  He was shot on July 2, 1881, but he just would not die.  Nowadays, the VP would step in pretty much right away as an interim president.  At the time, there was not so clear an idea of what to do, and Arthur was reluctant to appear to be grabbing power.  This was alright, because Congress wasn't in session anyway.  Garfield did finally die on September 19, and Arthur ascended to the presidency.

The single most important act of his time in office was the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.  With great irony, the Stalwart president rose above factions of his party and signed a bill that began to combat the Stalwart-favored spoils system.  Other than that, nothing all too important occurred.

He put in a bid for reelection in 1884 but wasn't renominated by the Republicans.  He later died of Bright's Disease and is the most recent president to never have a vice president.

And if all that logically laid out argument wasn't enough, Mark Twain agrees with me.  He said, "It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration.

And so this concludes my reasoning for claiming Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President of the United States, to be my favorite out of all men to lead this country.  He may not have been the "best" nor the most effective in passing all of his agenda, but he is and probably will always be my boy.

P.S. Don't think that this is the last you'll see of Chester Arthur here.  There's more to discuss.  :)