Chester Arthur and Modern Whigs

As were many early Republican leaders, Chester Arthur was initially a member of the Whig Party. In fact, he got into some sort of big fight over some candidate at college some time. Yeah. But he was a Whig.

Today there is a Modern Whig Party. It's not exactly the same as the original. In fact, I'd say it's fairly different since the new one is meant to be moderate while the old one was very sectional (kept mostly to New England) and class-ist (with support mostly from the richer).

Despite the old and new party's differences, I have decided to pull out the main aspects of the Modern Whig platform and analyze how Chester Arthur (as we know him from his presidency) would fit into the party.

*The party platform information has been copied and pasted directly from the Modern Whig Party's website.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY - Any action of the government must respect principles of fiscal responsibility and public accountability. Well, I'll be honest. President Arthur was a Republican of the Gilded Age. Monetarily, they weren't the most responsible. He attempted to lower the tariffs, but failed due to Congress marking them up time and time again until there was barely any lowering. Perhaps Chet would fit into this, but I can't be sure.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE - Develop practical domestic energy sources to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. This issue wasn't around in the 1880s, so while I'd love to tell you how great Chester Arthur is at energy independence, there is absolutely no criteria on which to analyze this.

STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY - Each state can generally determine its course of action based on local values and unique needs. This is kind of a vague position by the Modern Whig Party. How much is "generally?" I suppose in the eyes of some Chester would fit, in the eyes of others he wouldn't.

SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE - When the government is compelled to legislate morality, every citizen should be considered as equal. STOP SCREAMING CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT OF 1882 AT ME! Look, Arthur vetoed it once. He didn't want the Chinese to be excluded from citizenship. I have yet to figure out why he signed the bill the second time, but I'm sure it has to do with keeping him somewhat on the good side of Congress so he can do things like get the Pendleton Act passed later. I'm willing to vouch for Arthur on this one, I'm willing to bet many others are not.

EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT - Increase public and private emphasis on math and science to promote American innovation to compete in the global economy. The Gilded Age was a time of great scientific advancement by Bell and Edison, but the government did little to support this. In fact, it was mostly supported by the rich people with trusts and monopolies and a lot of money. (Score one for laissez faire economics?) I doubt Elegant Arthur would oppose this, but he probably wouldn't support it either.

VETERANS AFFAIRS - Vigilant advocacy relating to the medical, financial, and overall well-being of our military families and veterans. Yeah, Grover Cleveland's pretty much the only Gilded Age president who doesn't fit into this category in the eyes of the people of that time, so Chester fits well enough.

DEVELOP REAL LEADERS - This central tenet of the Party is to help leaders both grow and to exhibit good citizenship through leadership. If Arthur didn't grow and exhibit good citizenship that he was lacking in his years under Conkling, then I couldn't say that anyone ever grows and exhibits good citizenship.

SELF DISCOVERY - As a Whig it is important to always be learning and growing. This means it is the Party's responsibility to pull information together and to help members discover for themselves their stance on any social topic. Chet suddenly found his own stances on topics when he became president and broke from strictly the stalwart faction views.

FOCUS ON LONG TERM PROBLEM SOLVING - We have developed into a reactive nation. The only issues being seriously considered are those who make the top of each media hour, however it is important to be talking about and solving issues that are foreseeable before they are major issues. Buildup of the navy which was sorely undersized and underpowered that led to a much better chance in the Spanish-American War count? I thought so.



So it seems Chester Arthur doesn't fit all that well into the Modern Whig Party looking strictly at these standards. However, you must consider that this party is a moderate party, searching mostly to garner to people with more middle views than either the Republicans or Democrats. Do I think they'd accept Chester Arthur into their party? Of course. Could he run for local office? Probably, especially since it's still a small party. Would they run him for president? Unlikely, since he doesn't encompass the official positions too strictly, but maybe as time passed if the party grew larger.