The Good Samaritan

Know that story told by Jesus? The Good Samaritan?

In a nutshell, the people expected to help a dying man don't, and the person thought to be evil does help the dying man.

The Good Samaritan, then, could be likened to Chester Arthur.

When he first ascended to the presidency, the nation collectively groaned, saying "Well these four years aren't going to be worth a pile of horse poop as far as civil service reform."

But, as we know today, Chester Arthur is known as "The Father of Civil Service Reform" because it was under him that Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883. It was completely unexpected for the Stalwart president to go completely against the Stalwart platform of "To the victor goes the spoils" and actually take a knife and shove it through the heart of the spoils system.