5 October: Chester Arthur

This date in 1830 Chester (Alan) Arthur, 21st US President, who took over after the assassination of President Garfield, was born. 10 things you didn't know about him:

1. He was born in Vermont, but his political opponents tried to spread rumours that he was born in Ireland or Canada, which would have made him ineligible to be president. He was the fifth of nine children.
2. He was named after Chester Abell, the doctor who delivered him. He got his middle name, Alan, from his grandfather.
3. His first job after graduating was as the principal of the North Pownal Academy in Vermont. Coincidentally, James A Garfield, for whom he served as vice president, and whose assassination made Arthur president, taught penmanship at the same school. The two never met at the time, since Garfield worked there after Arthur had left.
4. He was against slavery and all for civil rights. As a young lawyer, he successfully represented a black woman, Lizzie Jennings, who'd been ejected from a streetcar. The jury awarded Jennings $225.00 in damages which led to the street car company ending its segregation policy.
5. He married Ellen Herndon, the daughter of William Lewis Herndon, a Virginia naval officer. She never got to be First Lady, however, as she died of pneumonia before Arthur became president. He never married again, and his sister Mary took on the task of being the White House hostess during his presidency.
6. Throughout his presidency, he would place a fresh red Rose in front of his wife's photograph every single day.
7. He was nicknamed "Elegant Arthur" because he liked to be fashionable and changed his clothes several times a day. It was said he owned over 80 pairs of Trousers, which was deemed pretty extravagant in those times.
8. His extravagance extended to interior design as well. He hired Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate and furnish the White House. To pay for that, he sold off 24 wagons of stuff left behind in the White House by previous presidents, including an old pair of Abraham Lincoln’s pants and one of John Quincy Adams’ hats.
9. He'd never held public office before he was nominated for VP. It was a political move and a favour to Arthur's powerful friend, Senator Roscoe Conkling. People were nervous about his lack of experience, but he was only the VP, right, not the president? History had other ideas, of course. Garfield was assassinated in 1881, making Chester Arthur President. Arthur did not appoint a VP for his whole term. One of the laws he introduced was the Pendleton Act which created the Civil Service Commission so people were given government jobs based on their ability rather than on cronyism. This made him unpopular with some people. He increased support for the US Navy.
10. Soon after he was elected, he was diagnosed with kidney disease. He took trips to Yellowstone National Park to improve his health, but died the year after his presidency ended, at the age of just 57.

My Books:

If you like stories about:

• Superheroes
• Psychic detectives
• Romance
• Alternative dimensions
• Time travel 
• Secrets
• Friendship
• Family relationships
• Ghosts
• Adventure
• Crime

If you want to read about superheroes who aren't the usual Marvel/DC staples, who don't all live in the USA.

If you like quirky tales.

If you like to support independent self published authors.

Check out my books page.