A member of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party, Chester A. Arthur was elected vice president in 1880 and became president on 19 September 1881, after the death of President James A. Garfield from wounds inflicted by an assassin. As president, Arthur surprised his Stalwart allies, who expected him to uphold political patronage and their conservative agenda on major issues, by working to reform the civil-service system and to lower protective tariffs.

Background.

Born in Fairfield, Vermont, on 5 October 1829, Chester Alan Arthur was the fifth child of a Baptist clergyman and abolitionist. The family moved often as the Reverend William Arthur was assigned to different churches. By 1844 they were living in Schenectady, New York, where the following year Chester Arthur entered Union College as a sophomore and graduated in 1848. After teaching school and studying law in his spare time for several years, Arthur became a clerk...