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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

History / Inauguration Who the Hell Was Chester A. Arthur?

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 3:40 PM

The question came up at a post-inauguration feast (oysters! champagne! grilled sardines!) and one of our party did not believe Chester A. Arthur was, in fact, a president. "He's not a president," she said. "The Seattle Times just slipped him onto the front page as a joke."

354d/1232495229-caa-c1859.jpg

Well. Not only was Chester Alan Arthur a president, he was a fancy president. Some facts about our man Chester, courtesy of Wikipedia (mostly):

• Mark Twain liked him—and Mark Twain hated everybody—saying: "It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration."

• Not only did Chester have an awesome name, he was surrounded by people with awesome names: Roscoe Conkling (his political mentor), Uriah Stone (his Continental-Army great-grandfather), Charles J. Guiteau (his predecessor's assassin, who shot president Garfield and shouted "I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts... Arthur is president now!"), Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (his Secretary of State), Cornelius Newton Bliss (one of his pallbearers), and so on.

• Chester was part Native American. (Did everybody know we had a part-Native American president?)

b971/1232495254-474px-chester_alan_arthur.jpg

• Chester was considered a snappy dresser.

• People called Chester "the Gentlemen Boss."

• Chester's inaugural address was all about how, even though Garfield was shot by a crazy man (and killed by his doctors, who poked and prodded his wound with unwashed hands) things were okay in America.

• Chester led the effort to establish the Greenwich Meridian and international time; he said paupers, criminals, and the mentally ill couldn't emigrate to America; and tried to clear the civil service of nepotism and corruption. He vetoed a bill saying Chinese people couldn't come to America, but signed a 10-year moratorium on Chinese people. (Apparently Mark Twain didn't like Chinese people.)

• Chester took 1 am walks to clear his head, and rarely went to bed before 2 am.

• Chester died of Bright's disease (kidney failure) while on a health-vacation in Florida that didn't go so well.

• You can buy a Chester Alan Arthur t-shirt here.

Comments (34) RSS

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21st president!
He was my great great great great great grandfather!
I didn't know he was so sassy, though.

Posted by g g g g g gd on January 20, 2009 at 3:48 PM

Brendan,
In addition, Chester Arthur is the namesake of one Chester Arthur Burnett aka Howlin' Wolf, the legendary blues man.

Posted by lark on January 20, 2009 at 3:49 PM

More factoids:

1. Arthur was probably our most overweight president.

2. Arthur unintentionally invented the 7th inning stretch in baseball. He was at a game one time, wanted to stand up to stretch his undoubtedly cramped legs, and everyone else around him, not wanting to offend, rose as well. This occurred, of course, betweeen the top & bottom halves of the 7th inning of the game he was attending.

3. Arthur had a very long political ancestry; he was prez in the 1900's, but there were still Arthur's in politics well into the 1950's & 60's.

Posted by Chris down in The Couv on January 20, 2009 at 3:51 PM

One of two presidents born in Vermont! (Rep-ra-sent, yo!) The other being Calvin Coolidge.

Posted by Kevbar on January 20, 2009 at 3:56 PM

Chester Arthur will never match the greatness of President William Henry Harrison. He won the (first modern) election after swift-canoeing Martin Van Buren as an intellectual elitist out of touch with "real American people" with a "log cabin and hard cider" campaign devoid of real issues. Harrison fell ill with pneumonia after delivering his (two hour long) inaugural address in very cold March snowstorm without wearing a hat or coat. He lapsed into a coma and spent his entire administration (31 days) comatose and caused the nation absolutely no harm...differing sharply from another presidential candidate I could name.

Posted by yucca flower on January 20, 2009 at 4:06 PM

His daughter Ruth was the name sake for the candy bar Baby Ruth, and not the Great Bambino Babe Ruth. He was also the President When the Brooklyn Bridge was finished. I should know I did a report on him in the 4th grade.

Posted by Daniel on January 20, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Chester Arthur???? puh-lease. you all don't know presidential mediocrity unless you know Rutherford B. Hayes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_…

check this pic.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en…

ohhh yeah, the term Inauguration Balls is endlessly funny

Posted by pissy mcslogbot on January 20, 2009 at 4:09 PM

Born in Vermont, buried in Albany, NY.

Posted by suznmy on January 20, 2009 at 4:13 PM

@6, I don't know what grade you got in the 4th grade, but your post doesn't pass muster here on Slog. The Baby Ruth bar was, in fact named after the slugger, although the candy company did insist that it was named after Ruth CLEVELAND, daughter of Grover Cleveland -- not Arthur. They were lying. But there's no connection to Arthur at all. See http://www.snopes.com/business/names/bab…

Posted by Fnarf on January 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM

It's not clear whether his mother was actually of Native American ancestry. The Wikipedia article changes the wording of the book it cites.

Posted by manthropologist on January 20, 2009 at 4:16 PM

@5,

Swift-canoeing. Very nice.

Posted by keshmeshi on January 20, 2009 at 4:16 PM

Didn't we have to memorize this stuff in elementary school? I've long since forgotten the names of all the presidents, as well as about half of the state capitals.

Posted by Greg on January 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM

@ 11,

I forgot the best part: He died...unlike that other Republican (Whig) candidate I could mention.

Posted by yucca flower on January 20, 2009 at 4:22 PM

What was really interesting about him is the fact that he was elected by the party bosses (who were some seriously corrupt mo-fos) and they figured he was just going to handle things business as usual. He proceeded to turn around and stop a lot of party corruption. He also sold a lot of things in the White House. So while he is a surprising man when it came to ethics, he wasn't so keen on the whole idea of recognizing the potential historical worth of objects.

Posted by gfrancie on January 20, 2009 at 4:45 PM

FYI: Obama is part Native American on his mother's side.

Posted by Simac on January 20, 2009 at 4:47 PM

Chester A. Arthur also signed the bill that established a separate United States Navy in the military.

Posted by Brandon on January 20, 2009 at 5:04 PM

@3 Are you drunk? Taft was, by far, the fattest fuck who ever served as President. He was like, in a bathtub his entire term.

Posted by meags on January 20, 2009 at 5:13 PM

1. Arthur was probably our most overweight president.

2. Arthur unintentionally invented the 7th inning stretch in baseball. He was at a game one time, wanted to stand up to stretch his undoubtedly cramped legs, and everyone else around him, not wanting to offend, rose as well. This occurred, of course, betweeen the top & bottom halves of the 7th inning of the game he was attending.

3. Arthur had a very long political ancestry; he was prez in the 1900's, but there were still Arthur's in politics well into the 1950's & 60's

These are all factoids about William Howard Taft, not Chester Alan Arthur. Arther was president from 1881 - 1884. Taft was Teddy Roosevelt's chosen successor in 1908, but Teddy than ran against him as a third party in 1912, paving the way for the clusterfuck that was Woodrow Wilson.

Posted by Frinklin on January 20, 2009 at 6:22 PM

Meags, I think you've stumbled on the secret of Arthur's appeal. In just 16 comments, Sloggers have mistaken Arthur for three different other presidents.

Posted by Fnarf on January 20, 2009 at 6:23 PM

Arthur was heavy. He was "a broad man both fore and aft" if I'm not mistaken.

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale on January 20, 2009 at 6:53 PM

lis simpson had "chester a. arthritis"

Posted by glen keenan on January 20, 2009 at 7:47 PM

Chester Arthur, a British subject at birth, was the first usurper to obtain the POTUS by subterfuge. Obama is the second usurper having engaged teams of lawyers at huge expense to cover up and/or seal all records of his birth, college years, and actual citizenship. More at the link:
http://is.gd/aI1G

Posted by Steadyjohn on January 20, 2009 at 7:50 PM

Best presidential facial hair?

Posted by miketown on January 20, 2009 at 8:04 PM

Henry James spoke fondly of Arthur, describing him as a modest first citizen who would quietly drop in on friends when taking time off from official duties at his home in New York City. James compared him favorably to Teddy Roosevelt, whose presidency he described as having all the trappings of an imperial court.

Posted by Jim Demetre on January 20, 2009 at 8:21 PM

Obama should grow moustachios.

Posted by Disintegrator on January 20, 2009 at 9:05 PM

Your link to the inaugural address isn't working (although it comes up on a Google search) and some other website says that he never gave an inaugural address at all. I'm very confused.

Posted by Propaniac on January 21, 2009 at 10:13 AM

Chet Arthur and mutton chops FTW.

He's on Twitter (http://twitter.com/home) and Facebook, too (http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?…)

Posted by Marissa on January 28, 2009 at 2:00 PM

Corrected Chester Arthur Twitter link: http://twitter.com/ChesterArthur

Posted by Marissa on January 28, 2009 at 2:01 PM

whoever is the great great great great grandchild of PRESIDENT ARTHUR I d like to talk to you. I am Dr. Larry Myers, a New York City playwright & professor at St. John's University. My new play is "Reincarnation of President Chester A. Arthur." Contact me at Laurencelarry1@aol.com
Thank you

Posted by Dr. Larry Myers on January 30, 2009 at 6:03 AM

just read parts of Dr. larry Myers new play' "reincarnation of president chester a. arthur'
awesome intriguing authentically theatrical & newsy

Posted by jupiter on February 2, 2009 at 7:15 AM

True, Chester Arthur had distant native ancestry on his mother's side, but more recently, Herbert Hoover's vice president, Charles Curtis, was half Kaw Indian (i.e. 'Native American' for the P.C. twits) and actually looked somewhat Indian, a rarity amongst those who claim Native ancestry. The P.C. types hate facts like these because they challenge the P.C. dogma that anyone darker or more 'ethnic' than a Frenchmen was treated like a leper in the U.S. for most of it's history.

Posted by Martin in N.Y. on February 4, 2009 at 7:36 PM

Professor & playwright Larry Myers once again shows brilliance in bringing truth and wit into the lives of engmatic people in history. Dr. Meyers brings so much to life. Thank God for him.

Posted by bevan on February 7, 2009 at 7:52 AM

there seems to be great interest in NEW YORK PLAYWRIGHT LARRY MYERS'
new work "Reincarnation of President Chester A. Arthur." The blogosphere is buzzing about this cutting edge dramatist's latest stage adventure-
witty mysterious enigmatic idiosyncratic!

Posted by beauregard on February 7, 2009 at 8:47 AM

@25 lol that made my day.
:D

Posted by bfdjhgorthighjhudfgihohfdgaoe[hfseoih! on January 13, 2010 at 1:45 PM