No president personally benefitted more from the patronage system than Chester Arthur when he was the Collector for the New York Customs House. So it is all the more surprising that he was the president credited with getting rid of the patronage process. Arthur was appointed as the Collector for the New York Customs House in 1871 as a reward for helping Ulysses Grant win the state of New York. In that position Arthur was responsible for collecting the customs duties on all goods that came in through the Port of New York. The Collector’s job was very lucrative because it included a percentage of the fines he collected from people trying to avoid the tariffs. At that time the salary of the collector was $6,500. Including the fines, Arthur made more than $50,000 per year! This was the same as the presidents salary. In addition, he oversaw an operation that employed more than 1,000 people. Everyone believed that this was way too many people for the work that needed done. The result was not a lot of work for most people. Employees were expected to give a portion of their salaries to the Republican Party and to spend their free time on Republican causes.
Arthur was a member of Roscoe Conkling’s “Stalwart” wing of the Republican Party. Conkling had a firm grasp on New York politics and controlled most of what went on in that important state. Many people in politically appointed positions owed Conkling for their job. Both Grant and Arthur offered to appoint Conkling to the Supreme Court, but both times he declined.
The patronage system was just one of the scandals that overshadowed the Grant administration. When Rutherford Hayes was running for president in 1876 he pledged to reform the civil service system. Once elected he started by taking on Conkling’s political machine at the Customs House; Hayes had an investigation look into the Customs House and it concluded that 20% of the people could be let go. Arthur gave in and created a committee to determine where the cuts should occur. Hayes then issued an Executive Order banning “assessments” (or mandatory contributions to a political party) and forbade people from doing party work on the job. Eventually it was discovered that most employees were taking bribes (mostly to rush items through customs), including one person that had pocketed $40,000! Hayes asked Arthur to resign, which he refused. Eventually, after battling with Conkling, Hayes fired Arthur during a congressional recess in July 1878 and appointed someone else. When the Senate returned they narrowly approved the new appointment.
Returning to New York, Arthur worked with Roscoe Conkling to help elect Stalwarts across the state. They were largely successful (including the Governor’s seat) and increased the power of the Stalwart faction. Hayes had promised to only serve one term, and it probably didn’t make a difference, because by 1880 his popularity was pretty low. After 35 ballots the Republican Party was deadlocked between supporters of Grant for an unprecedented third term and supporters of James G. Blaine, a Senator from Maine. On the 36th ballot Blaine threw his support behind James Garfield who won the nomination. To appease the Stalwarts Garfield asked Arthur to be his running mate. Against the advice of Conkling, who didn’t think Garfield could win, Arthur accepted. They barely won the election by 7,000 votes, but carried the large Eastern states and won easily in the Electoral College.
With Garfield’s assassination 6 months later, Arthur became president. He was first sworn in by a New York Supreme Court justice at his home in New York at 2:15 AM on Sept 20th (the day after receiving word that Garfield had died). He took the oath again on his return to DC because there are some questions regarding the authority of a state judge to administer the oath to a U.S. President.
Many expected Arthur to be an ardent Stalwart and that the civil service reforms that had initiated under Garfield would be slowed or even stopped. Arthur proved to be his own man and ended up being an able administrator. During his time in office he completed civil service reform by signing the Pendleton Act which still remains in effect today. Although in the biography I read the author gives as much credit to the Republicans in Congress who had just lost their majority to the Democrats in the 1882 election, it was during the lame duck session of congress that most of the civil service reforms were passed. By passing the popular legislation they could deny the Democrats the ability to use patronage.
Another problem that Arthur had to deal with was the budget surplus. Yes, budget surplus. There were differing opinions on how to reduce the surplus. The Republicans wanted to attack the surplus by spending more money. Specifically they passed the Rivers and Harbors Bill that would spend $19 million for internal improvements. Arthur vetoed the bill because he didn’t like the size of the bill or the fact that it only had local impact and not national. Congress was able to override his veto. The passing of the bill was unpopular around the country and the Republicans pointed to it when they lost the midterm election in 1882. The Democrats, on the other hand, wanted to lower tariffs to reduce income. However, Republicans felt that high tariffs meant higher wages. This seems kind of odd today when the parties seem to have flipped on their fiscal policies.
Arthur oversaw a resurgence in the US Navy, which had been allowed to dwindle since the Civil War. The navy had gone from 700 ships down to a mere 52. Within a decade the American Navy easily defeated the Spanish in the Spanish-American War.
The legacy of President Arthur revolved around the resurgence of the US Navy and the reformation of US civil service. For the first time jobs were based on merit and not political connections. Having taken a relatively independent path during his presidency, Arthur did not enjoy the support of either major faction of the Republican Party for a full term. The Stalwarts were in serious decline after Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, claimed to be a Stalwart after shooting Garfield. This led to conspiracy theories that the Stalwarts were involved. The other major faction, the Half-Breeds, were firmly behind their candidate, James Blaine. The Half-Breeds got their label because they were moderate Republicans and some called them half-Republicans.
Never really enjoying good health after he left office, he lived another 2 years after leaving office. On November 16th, after having returned from vacation (holiday), he fell quite ill. He ordered all of his official papers and letters burned. Arthur suffered a cerebral hemorrhage the next morning and died at 57 years old.
Fun Facts:
- He suffered from Bright’s Disease which affected his kidneys.
- There are unproven rumors that Chester Arthur was actually born in Canada, which would have rendered him ineligible to be president.
- In a civil rights case in 1854, Arthur was the lead attorney representing Elizabeth Jennings Graham after she was denied a seat on a streetcar because she was black. He won the case, and the verdict led to the desegregation of the New York City streetcar lines.
- Arthur’s wife died in 1880 after 21 years of marriage, after his election as Vice-President. He never remarried.
- Arthur was Garfield’s second choice for vice-president. Levi Morton turned Garfield down due to the advice of Conkling; Morton would go on to serve as Benjamin Harrison’s vice-president.
- He was the second president to take the oath of office in New York City; however he retook the oath when he was back in Washington DC.
- Arthur dedicated the recently completed Washington Monument on February 27th, 1885, one of his last acts as president.
- He oversaw a major renovation of the White House. The Army Corps of Engineers thought it would be easier to tear it down and build a new one.
- He hired renowned decorator Lewis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate. He had 24 wagon loads of furniture and decorations hauled off.
- He had the first elevator installed in the White House
- In 1882 he signed the Edmunds Act making polygamy a federal crime and barring anyone that practiced it from serving in public office. This was aimed at the Mormon Church in the Utah Territory.
Vital Stats:
- Wife: Ellen Lewis Herndon (1837-1880, m. 1859)
- Children: William Lewis Herndon (1860-1863), Chester Alan Jr. (1864-1937), Ellen Herndon (1871-1915)
- Party affiliation: Republican Party
- Presidency: 1881-1885
- Born: October 5th, 1829 (Fairfield, Vermont)
- Died: November 18th, 1886 (New York, New York)
