Chester Arthur

This biography traces Arthur’s life from his Vermont upbringing in an abolitionist minister’s family, through his legal career and civil-rights work in New York, his efficient Civil War service as Quartermaster General, and his rise to Collector of the Port of New York. It then examines the unexpected transformation of his presidency: the signing of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, the modernization of the U.S. Navy, and the dignified administration of an office he had not sought. By the time he left office in 1885, Arthur had earned greater public respect than when he entered it.

Part of a series of presidential biographies, this volume offers a clear, balanced portrait of one of the Gilded Age’s most underestimated presidents.