July 4: Chester Arthur

Today's Free Press/Detroit News featured a quiz about America, and American History to some degree, in honor of the holiday. My wife and I decided to test our own knowledge as citizens of this great country and take the quiz. We did fairly well, which is a relief since the quiz was based upon knowledge that every 6th grader should know. But, one question was one of those "which President did not do such and such...", and one of the options was a man named Chester Arthur. I didn't even know we had a President named Chester Arthur in the White House at one time. So, following my standard process when learning new tidbits such as this, I went Internet and did a little research on this fella. Chester Alan Arthur was our 21st President from September 19, 1881 through March 4, 1885. As the Vice President for James Garfield, Arthur was sworn into office following Garfield's assassination at the hands of Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was a disgruntled job seeker, and ironically, Arthur's greatest achievement was the passing of the Pendleton Act in 1883, which provided that Federal Government jobs be awarded on the basis of merit and that Government employees be selected through competitive exams. The act also made it unlawful to fire or demote for political reasons employees who were covered by the law. The law further forbids requiring employees to give political service or contributions. In the summer of 1883, Arthur was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a fatal kidney disease, which he continued to battle during his final year in office. He died November 18, 1886. His post -presidency was the second shortest of all Presidents, longer only than that of James Polk who died 103 days after leaving office.