The Unexpected President

The Unexpected President PDF Author: Scott S. Greenberger
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 030682390X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 440

Get Book Here

Book Description
When President James Garfield was shot in 1881, nobody expected Vice President Chester A. Arthur to become a strong and effective president, a courageous anti-corruption reformer, and an early civil rights advocate. Despite his promising start as a young man, by his early fifties Chester A. Arthur was known as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. For years Arthur had been perceived as unfit to govern, not only by critics and the vast majority of his fellow citizens but by his own conscience. As President James A. Garfield struggled for his life, Arthur knew better than his detractors that he failed to meet the high standard a president must uphold. And yet, from the moment President Arthur took office, he proved to be not just honest but brave, going up against the very forces that had controlled him for decades. He surprised everyone -- and gained many enemies -- when he swept house and took on corruption, civil rights for blacks, and issues of land for Native Americans. A mysterious young woman deserves much of the credit for Arthur's remarkable transformation. Julia Sand, a bedridden New Yorker, wrote Arthur nearly two dozen letters urging him to put country over party, to find "the spark of true nobility" that lay within him. At a time when women were barred from political life, Sand's letters inspired Arthur to transcend his checkered past--and changed the course of American history. This beautifully written biography tells the dramatic, untold story of a virtually forgotten American president. It is the tale of a machine politician and man-about-town in Gilded Age New York who stumbled into the highest office in the land, only to rediscover his better self when his nation needed him.

The Unexpected President

The Unexpected President PDF Author: Scott S. Greenberger
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 030682390X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 440

Get Book Here

Book Description
When President James Garfield was shot in 1881, nobody expected Vice President Chester A. Arthur to become a strong and effective president, a courageous anti-corruption reformer, and an early civil rights advocate. Despite his promising start as a young man, by his early fifties Chester A. Arthur was known as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. For years Arthur had been perceived as unfit to govern, not only by critics and the vast majority of his fellow citizens but by his own conscience. As President James A. Garfield struggled for his life, Arthur knew better than his detractors that he failed to meet the high standard a president must uphold. And yet, from the moment President Arthur took office, he proved to be not just honest but brave, going up against the very forces that had controlled him for decades. He surprised everyone -- and gained many enemies -- when he swept house and took on corruption, civil rights for blacks, and issues of land for Native Americans. A mysterious young woman deserves much of the credit for Arthur's remarkable transformation. Julia Sand, a bedridden New Yorker, wrote Arthur nearly two dozen letters urging him to put country over party, to find "the spark of true nobility" that lay within him. At a time when women were barred from political life, Sand's letters inspired Arthur to transcend his checkered past--and changed the course of American history. This beautifully written biography tells the dramatic, untold story of a virtually forgotten American president. It is the tale of a machine politician and man-about-town in Gilded Age New York who stumbled into the highest office in the land, only to rediscover his better self when his nation needed him.

Chester Alan Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur PDF Author: Zachary Karabell
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1466834625
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Gilded Age bon vivant who became America's unlikeliest chief executive-and who presided over a sweeping reform of the system that nurtured him Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880-despite his never having run for office before. Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt "spoils system." To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come. Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president-of whom so little was expected-rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House. "By exploring the Gilded Age's parallels with our own divisive political scene, Karabell does an excellent job of cementing the volume's relevance for contemporary readers. " - Publishers Weekly

A President in Yellowstone

A President in Yellowstone PDF Author: Frank H. Goodyear
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806189266
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Get Book Here

Book Description
On the morning of July 30, 1883, President Chester A. Arthur embarked on a trip of historic proportions. His destination was Yellowstone National Park, established by an act of Congress only eleven years earlier. No sitting president had ever traveled this far west. Arthur’s host and primary guide would be Philip H. Sheridan, the famed Union general. Also slated to join the expedition was a young photographer, Frank Jay Haynes. This elegant—and fascinating—book showcases Haynes’s remarkable photographic album from their six-week journey. A premier nineteenth-century landscape photographer, F. Jay Haynes, as he was known professionally, originally compiled the leather-bound album as a commemorative piece. As only six copies are known to exist, it has rarely been seen. The album’s 104 images are accompanied by captions written by General Sheridan’s brother, Colonel Michael V. Sheridan, who wrote daily dispatches that were distributed by the Associated Press. In his informative introduction, historian Frank H. Goodyear III provides background about the excursion and explains the historic and aesthetic significance of Haynes’s photographs. He then re-creates Arthur’s journey by reintroducing Haynes’s stunning images—along with Sheridan’s original captions—including views of the Tetons and other landmarks; portraits of President Arthur, General Sheridan, and fellow travelers engaged in activities along the route; and images of the Shoshone and Arapaho leaders who gathered to greet the visiting party. Published on the occasion of the reopening of the Haynes Photography Shop in Yellowstone, A President in Yellowstone offers a unique entry into the park’s storied past.

Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur PDF Author: Charnan Simon
Publisher: Children's Press(CT)
ISBN: 9780516013695
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Get Book Here

Book Description
Traces the life of the young lawyer who rose up through New York's political machine to become the twenty-first president of the United States.

America's First Freedom Rider

America's First Freedom Rider PDF Author: Jerry Mikorenda
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493041355
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1854, traveling was full of danger. Omnibus accidents were commonplace. Pedestrians were regularly attacked by the Five Points’ gangs. Rival police forces watched and argued over who should help. Pickpockets, drunks and kidnappers were all part of the daily street scene in old New York. Yet somehow, they endured and transformed a trading post into the Empire City. None of this was on Elizabeth Jennings’s mind as she climbed the platform onto the Chatham Street horsecar. But her destination and that of the country took a sudden turn when the conductor told her to wait for the next car because it had “her people” in it. When she refused to step off the bus, she was assaulted by the conductor who was aided by a NY police officer. On February 22, 1855, Elizabeth Jennings v. Third Avenue Rail Road case was settled. Seeking $500 in damages, the jury stunned the courtroom with a $250 verdict in Lizzie’s favor. Future US president Chester A. Arthur was Jennings attorney and their lives would be forever onward intertwined. This is the story of what happened that day. It’s also the story of Jennings and Arthur’s families, the struggle for equality, and race relations. It’s the history of America at its most despicable and most exhilarating. Yet few historians know of Elizabeth Jennings or the impact she had on desegregating public transit.

Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur PDF Author: Carol Brunelli
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781567668582
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Get Book Here

Book Description
Traces the childhood, education, employment, and political career of this president.

The American President

The American President PDF Author: Philip B. Kunhardt
Publisher: Riverhead Books (Hardcover)
ISBN: 9781573228329
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
Explores the lives of the presidents and the evolution of the presidency.

Accidental Presidents

Accidental Presidents PDF Author: Jared Cohen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1501109839
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 528

Get Book Here

Book Description
This New York Times bestselling “deep dive into the terms of eight former presidents is chock-full of political hijinks—and déjà vu” (Vanity Fair) and provides a fascinating look at the men who came to the office without being elected to it, showing how each affected the nation and world. The strength and prestige of the American presidency has waxed and waned since George Washington. Eight men have succeeded to the presidency when the incumbent died in office. In one way or another they vastly changed our history. Only Theodore Roosevelt would have been elected in his own right. Only TR, Truman, Coolidge, and LBJ were re-elected. John Tyler succeeded William Henry Harrison who died 30 days into his term. He was kicked out of his party and became the first president threatened with impeachment. Millard Fillmore succeeded esteemed General Zachary Taylor. He immediately sacked the entire cabinet and delayed an inevitable Civil War by standing with Henry Clay’s compromise of 1850. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded our greatest president, sided with remnants of the Confederacy in Reconstruction. Chester Arthur, the embodiment of the spoils system, was so reviled as James Garfield’s successor that he had to defend himself against plotting Garfield’s assassination; but he reformed the civil service. Theodore Roosevelt broke up the trusts. Calvin Coolidge silently cooled down the Harding scandals and preserved the White House for the Republican Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Harry Truman surprised everybody when he succeeded the great FDR and proved an able and accomplished president. Lyndon B. Johnson was named to deliver Texas electorally. He led the nation forward on Civil Rights but failed on Vietnam. Accidental Presidents shows that “history unfolds in death as well as in life” (The Wall Street Journal) and adds immeasurably to our understanding of the power and limits of the American presidency in critical times.

Gentleman Boss

Gentleman Boss PDF Author: Thomas C. Reeves
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Arthur, Chester Alan, Pres. U.S.
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Get Book Here

Book Description
Full-scale political biography of the 21st President, based on newly discovered documents. Shows Arthur to be a master political organizer and patronage boss.

Chester County Clocks and Their Makers

Chester County Clocks and Their Makers PDF Author: Arthur James
Publisher: Sanford Press
ISBN: 1445514702
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description
This early collection on Chester County Clocks is thoroughly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of all horologists. Extensively illustrated with text and full page photographs. Contents Include: Foreword; Acknowledgments; Introduction; The Parts of a Grandfather Clock; Individual Clockmakers and Clocks - David M. Anderson, Emmor Baily, Joel Baily, George Baldwin, Harlan Baldwin, Thomas F. H. Baldwin, Eli Bentley, John Boyd, John Breckwell, Butler & Bartlett, Canby & Nielson, Joseph Cave, Benjamin Chandlee, Sr, Benjamin Chandler, Jr, George Cochran, Abraham Corl, Thomas Crow, Benedict Darlington, Thomas Dring, Jacobn Fertig, Benjamin Garrett, Goshenville's Big Ben, John Hall, Jonathan N. Hatch, Caleb Hibbard, Joseph M. Hollis, Honey Brook's Community Clock, Joshua Humphrey, George Jackson, Jr, John Jackson, Isaac Jackson, Curtis Ferreris, Elisha Kirk, James Kinkead, A. Sydney Logan, J. Clemens McConnell, John Murphy, Abraham Olwine, Henry Olwine, William H. Price, Moses A. Regensburg, Thomas Scott, Samuel Sligh, James Starrett, mordecai Thomas, Isaac Thomas, David Underwood, Russell Vibber, John Way, West Chester's Town Clock, David Williams, Thomas Wolf (deWolf) Allan Yarnall; and a Bibliography. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.