Chester A. Arthur
Who was the future president named after?
He took his first name from the physician who delivered him. He took his middle name from his paternal grandfather Alan Arthur.
Whom did Arthur hire to redecorate the White House?
Arthur thought that the White House needed serious upgrading. For this project, he enlisted the services of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the son of Tiffany and Company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany. Louis Comfort Tiffany later became world renowned for his glassmaking.
What measure did Arthur sign with regard to Chinese immigration?
Arthur reluctantly signed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended or banned further Chinese immigration to the United States for ten years. Arthur opposed the measure, but signed it for pragmatic reasons.
What political charge did some opponents allege regarding Arthur's birth?
Some opponents alleged that Arthur was born in Canada, instead of Vermont. This would have disqualified him from serving as either vice president or president. No proof was ever established that he was born anywhere other than Vermont.
Who removed Arthur from this position as collector of the port of New York?
President Rutherford B. Hayes, who despised patronage and the spoils system, campaigned on the promise to clean up government. After hearing complaints, Hayes appointed John Jay--grandson of the first U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Federalist Paper co-author John Jay--to investigate the New York port. The Jay Commission investigated and found problems. The Commission did not find Arthur personally guilty of anything, but criticized him for looking the other way while employees received appointments after making political contributions. The report also noted that Arthur often arrived to work late. Hayes ordered Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman to remove Arthur from his lucrative position. Roscoe Conkling vigorously defended Arthur and, for a time, President Hayes backed off his original demands. When Congress went into recess in 1878, Hayes again ordered Sherman to remove Arthur and replaced him with Alonzo Cornell, a city naval officer.
The controversy endeared Arthur to the Stalwart wing of the Republican Party, led by Conkling. It also gave Arthur some national political exposure.
From The Handy Presidents Answer Book, Second Edition by David L. Hudson, Jr., JD., (c) Visible Ink Press(R)
More than 1,600 things you never knew about our nation's leaders
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