US Presidents For Dummies

by Marcus Stadelmann

  Courtesy of the Library of Congress

  Chester Arthur was a true believer in the finer things in life. He enjoyed expensive clothing, gourmet food, and a good bottle of wine. His friends loved him. He was a kind and gentle man with a great sense of humor. In other words, he was the kind of man people enjoyed hanging out with — although some considered him a snob, out of touch with the people. His parties in the White House were famous. And after the alcohol-free Hayes years, liquor flowed freely again in the White House.

  Arthur’s early political career

  The Kansas-Nebraska Act (see Chapter 9) brought Arthur into politics, just as it had Lincoln. Because Arthur was an abolitionist, one who favored ending slavery, he joined the newly created Republican Party. In 1856, Arthur became a founding father of the New York Republican Party and supported Frémont, the Republican candidate for the presidency. In 1860, Arthur campaigned for Lincoln, the Republican Party nominee, and for Governor Edwin D. Morgan of New York. When both won, Arthur was ready to receive his reward under the spoils system.

  When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Governor Morgan named Arthur inspector general and then quartermaster general for the New York state militia. The position paid Arthur well. He did a great job equipping over 200,000 soldiers between 1861 and 1863. Arthur resigned and returned to his law practice when the Democrats won the governorship in 1863.

  Arthur slowly worked his way up the political ladder. By 1868, he was one of the top men in the New York State Republican Party. When Republican Ulysses S. Grant won the White House in 1868, Arthur was given the post of collector of customs in New York City — one of the most powerful positions in the federal government at the time. In his new position, Arthur oversaw more than 1,000 people and controlled almost 60 percent of all customs receipts for the country. Arthur now controlled New York City politics. All of his employees were loyal Republicans who received their jobs based on party ties. Some of them were incompetent, and many of them were corrupt.

  In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes investigated Arthur and the customhouse. Even though Arthur was not found to be corrupt, Hayes fired him in 1878, and Arthur returned to the law.

  Growing up religious

  Chester Arthur was born in 1829, the son of a Baptist minister. Arthur attended good schools, including Union College from which he graduated in 1848. He was an average student who was more interested in living the good life than in studying. He once dumped the school bell into the Erie Canal.

  After graduating from College, he taught school and became a principal. He also studied law at night. By 1853, Arthur was working for a lawyer in New York City. In 1854, he passed the bar and began to practice law in the New York area. While practicing law, Arthur became a champion of rights for blacks. He won a landmark case, which outlawed discrimination in New York’s public transportation system, in 1855.

  Arthur fell in love with and married Ellen Lewis Herndon in 1859. Her death, shortly before Arthur became president, affected Arthur deeply — he had fresh flowers put next to her portrait in the White House every day of his presidency.

  Staging the comeback of his life

  When the Republican Party split into the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds in 1880, it couldn’t agree on a presidential nominee (see the “Arthur’s early political career” section earlier in this chapter). James Garfield, a Half-Breed, became the compromise presidential nominee. The party wanted to balance the ticket with a Stalwart vice-presidential candidate. Who better than Chester Arthur? In the 1880 election, Garfield and Arthur won a narrow victory. Chester Arthur was now the vice president of the United States.

  President Chester Alan Arthur (1881–1885)

  Chester Arthur became president on September 20, 1881, after President Garfield was assassinated. Everybody expected Arthur to be a puppet of the Stalwart branch of the Republican Party, but Arthur had other ideas. He knew that he was a one-term president — he suffered from Bright’s disease, a terminal kidney disorder. So he chose to initiate reforms.

  Arthur’s major accomplishment as president occurred in 1883, when Congress passed the Pendleton Act, the first civil service reform bill in U.S. history. The Pendleton Act established the following provisions:

  Political tests for federal officeholders became illegal.

  Alcoholics, even if they were loyal party alcoholics, couldn’t be hired anymore.

  Competitive tests for some civil service positions became mandatory. However, the act only affected 14,000 out of the 131,000 federal positions.

  Subsequent presidents were allowed to classify more civil service positions closed to the spoils/patronage system.

  In the area of foreign policy, Arthur was very innovative. Some of his ideas seem visionary even today:

  The organization of an international conference to create standard time zones throughout the world

  The proposal of a single currency for North and South America to facilitate trade

  The negotiation of building a canal through Nicaragua and not Panama (The Senate, favoring Panama as the site for a canal, refused to ratify the treaty.)

  Other successes during Arthur’s presidency included the strengthening and modernizing of the U.S. navy.

  In 1884, Arthur changed his mind about being a one-term president and wanted to run for reelection. However, his reforms had alienated many in the Republican Party. Arthur lost the Republican nomination to Senator Blaine.

  Arthur went back to practicing law, but not for long. His disease caught up with him. He died on November 18, 1886 in New York City.

  Making History by Serving Nonconsecutive Terms: Grover Cleveland

  Grover Cleveland, shown in Figure 12-3, has the distinction of being the only president in U.S. history to serve two nonconsecutive terms. He proved to be an independent spirit, pursuing policies that he thought were right. In turn, he alienated many in his own party. His presidencies were characterized by an emphasis on fighting corruption and the spoils system.

  Figure 12-3: President Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president of the United States.

  Courtesy of the Library of Congress

  Cleveland was actually more conservative than his own Democratic party, which allowed him to become a Democratic president in Republican times. Because of his independence and strong character, he deserves to be ranked in the top 15 of U.S. presidents.

  Independent to the end

  Grover Cleveland was born in 1837 in New Jersey. His father, a Presbyterian minister, moved him to New York in 1841. Grover went to public schools and planned to attend College until his father passed away in 1853, forcing him to go to work.

  For one year, he taught at a school for the blind in New York City. Then his uncle came to the rescue. He offered to have Grover live with him and work on his cattle ranch in Buffalo, New York. While working for his uncle, Cleveland studied law. In 1859, he received his license to practice law.

  Cleveland’s early political career

  Cleveland showed his independence early: The uncle who sponsored him was one of the founders of the Republican Party in Buffalo, but Cleveland became a Democrat.

  Grover Cleveland didn’t fight in the Civil War. He bought a substitute, for $150, to fight in his place. This was perfectly legal under the terms of the Conscription Act (see Chapter 10).

  The veto mayor

  Cleveland started to work for the local Democratic Party in 1863, becoming the assistant district attorney of Erie County. He proved to be a tough crime fighter, prosecuting corruption unmercifully. The people of the county rewarded him for his work by electing him sheriff in 1871. He continued his crusade against corruption and crime and received a reputation as a hardworking, honest politician. The Democratic Party rewarded him for his loyalty by running him for mayor of Buffalo in 1881. He won easily.

  Cleveland went after the corruption in the Buffalo government. He targeted politicians from both parties and consistently vetoed bills that benefited the aldermen
personally. Cleveland believed that the type of corruption that was taking place shouldn’t exist. His consistent vetoing of bills earned him the nickname, the “Veto Mayor.”

  The veto governor

  To his great surprise, the Democratic Party approached him in 1882 to run for the governorship of New York. The party couldn’t decide between the two frontrunners, so it decided to go with a new face instead. The public was fed up with constant corruption and wanted change. They wanted an honest person in office. The Veto Mayor fit the bill and won the governorship easily.

  Not surprisingly, Cleveland continued his independence as governor of New York. He refused to hand out jobs purely on party affiliation. In addition, Cleveland continued to veto bills liberally.

  In 1883, Cleveland vetoed a bill that would have lowered transit fares in New York City because he felt that it was a violation of existing laws. The so-called Five Cent Fare Bill was popular with many New Yorkers. After vetoing it, Cleveland said, “I shall be the most unpopular man in the state of New York.” Yet, he still vetoed the bill.

  A surprise nominee

  In 1884, the Democratic Party went looking for a presidential candidate. The Republicans nominated Senator James Blaine of Maine, who was accused of taking money from businesses while he was the Speaker of the House. A wing of the Republican Party broke off and proclaimed that they would back any Democrat who was honest and opposed corruption. Cleveland fit the bill. He became the Democratic nominee and won the presidency in a very close election in 1884.

  One of the many issues Cleveland faced while running for the presidency concerned his fathering an illegitimate child. When his campaign managers asked him how to handle the issue, Cleveland told them to admit to it. He would rather lose the election than lie to the public. His handling of the issue actually enhanced his reputation of being an honest politician.

  President Stephen Grover Cleveland (1885–1889 and 1893–1897)

  The election of 1884 was one of the closest elections in U.S. history. The Republican candidate, Blaine, might have won if one of his supporters had kept his mouth shut. The Reverend Samuel Burchard called the Democratic Party the “party of rum, Romanism, and rebellion.” “Romanism” was a derogatory term. The slur alienated Catholic voters — they voted for Cleveland.

  Cleveland continued his independent streak as president. For his cabinet, he picked the best and most capable people. He didn’t care whether they were former Confederates, or even Republicans.

  Cleveland’s first act was to enhance the scope of the Pendleton Act to further promote civil reform. He actually doubled the number of federal jobs, which were now based on merit and not patronage. Next, he turned into the “Veto President.” In his first administration, Cleveland vetoed over 200 bills; most of them were pension bills that extended money to Union war veterans. He paid a price for the vetoed bills when veterans’ organizations backed his opponent, Benjamin Harrison, in 1888.

  After the Civil War, Congress passed many pension bills that gave money to war veterans, including one for disabled Union veterans. The bill didn’t stipulate that the disability had to be received during the war, so abuse was rampant. Cleveland vetoed the bill. Veterans’ organizations started to oppose Cleveland. To make matters worse, the veteran’s organizations claimed that he acted cowardly during the Civil War, because he paid someone to fight in his place.

  Two years into his first term, President Cleveland married Frances Folsom, who was 28 years younger than he. The age difference caused quite a stir, with many accusing Cleveland of robbing the cradle. The accusations didn’t bother him at all. The couple had five children together.

  Reforming the country

  Two major pieces of legislation stood out during Cleveland’s first term:

  The Dawes Act of 1887: This act, which ended in failure, provided for the distribution of tribal American Indian lands to individual Native Americans. But, instead of becoming independent farmers, as Cleveland had hoped, many Native Americans lost their land due to fraud.

  The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887: This act, which proved to be the more successful of the two, fixed the price for railroad tickets at a just and reasonable level. Although the act was ignored in the beginning, it was the first major attempt by the federal government to regulate U.S. businesses. It set a precedent for many more acts to come.

  Losing in 1888

  Cleveland ran for reelection in 1888. He squared off against war hero Benjamin Harrison, the Republican nominee.

  The Democrats were split on the issue of tariffs. Cleveland believed in lower tariffs to stimulate exports to Europe and reduce the price of foreign goods to the average U.S. citizen. Cleveland’s stance annoyed many businesses, especially in the industrial North, so they turned to the Republicans, who favored higher tariffs on foreign goods. The election was close; Cleveland actually won the popular vote by 100,000 votes. However, he lost the electoral vote with 168 votes to Harrison’s 233. His home state of New York was the difference in the election, as his stance on tariffs cost him the state. Undeterred, Cleveland went back to his law practice and vowed he’d be back.

  In 1891, while Cleveland was practicing law in New York City, his first child, Ruth, was born. The media fell in love with her. A new candy bar, Baby Ruth, was named after her.

  Serving again

  In 1892, the Democratic Party was split one more time. The Silver Democrats supported the free, unlimited coinage of silver to increase the money supply in the United States. They believed that it would allow small farmers to repay their debts more quickly. The Gold Democrats, of which Cleveland was one, believed that money should be backed by gold so that currency could be exchanged into gold at any time. The amount of gold reserves determined how much money was in circulation.

  Cleveland soundly defeated the incumbent Harrison, reclaiming the office of president for the Democratic Party.

  During the 1892 campaign, First Lady Caroline Harrison was dying. Both candidates stopped campaigning one month before the election took place.

  Cleveland’s second term proved to be fairly unsuccessful. He alienated industrialists by supporting tariffs, workers by breaking a strike, and imperialists by refusing to annex the Hawaiian Islands.

  In 1893, as the country was enduring a recession, doctors discovered a cancerous growth in President Cleveland’s mouth. Cleveland kept his illness a secret because he didn’t want to worry the public. The doctors removed Cleveland’s jaw and replaced it with an artificial jaw made out of rubber. This operation wasn’t made public until 1917, after Cleveland’s death.

  Dealing with a depression

  When he came back to the White House, Cleveland faced the great depression of 1893, a worldwide depression that had spread to the United States.

  The trigger industry for the economic depression in the United States was the railroads, which expanded too quickly. By 1893, the whole country faced an economic downturn. The conventional wisdom of the day dictated that Cleveland not interfere because the economy would right itself.

  The depression dragged on for years, undermining the public’s trust in the president. To top it all off, a group of impoverished men and their families, organized by Jacob Coxey, marched to Washington, D.C. to ask Cleveland for help. The group, called Coxey’s Army, wanted Cleveland to spend federal money to create jobs. Cleveland just ignored them. The move was not good for his publicity. More and more Democrats turned away from their president.

  Instead of trying to cure the ailing economy, Cleveland pushed for lower tariffs. He got his wish in 1894, when Congress lowered tariffs on many foreign goods. However, Republicans and Northern Democrats actually watered down the bill by increasing tariffs on certain industrial goods.

  Punishing striking workers

  The most damaging event to the Cleveland presidency occurred in 1894 when employees of the Pullman Company went on strike. The American Railway Union joined the strike in support of the workers at Pullman, shutting down all
railroad traffic.

  Because the strike handicapped the federal mail service, Cleveland believed that the federal government had the right to interfere. He sent troops to break up the strike and threw union leaders into jail. Workers began to turn away from the president.

  Saying no to imperialism

  Cleveland opposed imperialism, or the acquisition of colonies, by the United States. His predecessor, President Harrison, signed a treaty annexing Hawaii to the United States. Cleveland considered it to be imperialism, knowing that a majority of Hawaiians opposed the idea. He withdrew the treaty from the Senate, and Hawaii was not annexed. This act infuriated the many U.S. citizens who believed in imperialism.

  He again passed up a chance to get involved in territorial expansion when Spain cracked down on its colony in Cuba, killing thousands, in 1895. Many U.S. citizens, including Republicans and Southern Democrats, wanted to use military action to not only help the people of Cuba, but also to annex it. Cleveland refused.