The 21st U.S. President

 

Chester A. Arthur

Born: October 5, 1829

Died: November 18, 1886

Term in Office: 1881-1885

 

If you're a sometime regular part-time never-been-here-before reader of this simple blog you may or may not know that in 2021 I started this thing with the U.S. Presidents called the Rogue's Gallery, wherein I posted little caricatures of those dudes (yes, so far only dudes) who occupied the highest elected office in our land on their birthdays. The caricatures went up on Instagram with a notation to check out this blog for some thoughts on the person of the day. Well, I completed the caricatures for the year on IG, but I got woefully behind on the blog end of things. I cancelled my Instagram account at the beginning of 2022 (explained in another post) and vowed to complete the Presidential notes... and I got ever farther behind. After this post, I think I still need to expound on 12 more rogues. Just not really into the project anymore. Sorry. But a project is a project is a project, and I will endeavor to get all of the muthas represented... if it takes ten years.

Enough of that. Let's talk about this Chester A. Arthur guy. Chester always seems to be at the bottom of the list of popular and/or effective presidents, and it's too bad, because, as you'll see in some of the trivia below, he actually had some good principles and seems to have been an okay person. Plus, I have always liked the name 'Chester,' largely because of my having grown up with Gunsmoke from the 50s, through the 60s, and into the 70s, and really liking Dennis Weaver's character of the same name; the guy who was the deputy for Marshall Dillon before Ken Curtis' Festus took the job. Even named a crippled rooster of mine Chester.

But, whoa, how did I go down that crazy road? Let's get back to the gentleman an hand, Mr. Arthur.

Arthur was one of five presidents who were never elected to the post; those who, as vice-presidents, took over the office due to the deaths or resignation of the elected rogue. In Arthur's case, the assassination of James Garfield put him in the Oval Office. At the end of that term Arthur decided not to run for election due to poor health.

As a young lawyer, years before his time in the White House, he fought for civil rights, successfully representing a black woman who had been denied a seat on a Manhattan streetcar due to her race.

While in office he signed the Pendleton Act, which required government jobe be distributed based on merit, not patronage, which was commonplace (and expected) prior to that time.

He vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a suspension of Chinese immigration for ten years, again proving to be a champion of civil rights. His veto was overridden by Congress, and the Exclusion Act stood.

So, even though Arthur's not a popular president, I find him to be a positive presence in that post.

Hopefully I won't be so long in getting the next presidential notes put up.

Peace to all, and don't be too quick to judge the forgotten and undervalued folks around you.