Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829, in Fairfield, Vermont. Arthur and his seven siblings lived in the United States and Canada during their childhood.
It wasn’t long until 4 months after Garfield’s assassination in that same year that Arthur officially became President. Some of the highlights of his term as president were the signing of the Pendleton Civil Service Act which prohibited the firing of workers based on political reasons and political donations from the employees. This act also allowed specific federal government jobs be given based on how well an employee does instead of political connections. Another event was his almost successful attempt to lower the tariffs. He vetoed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, only to have the veto overrode by Congress. Militarily he wanted to have the modernization of the U.S. Navy (.
In 1882 he was sworn in as the youngest member of the New York Assembly (George Grant, Carry a Big Stick, p. 42). He was appointed to the U.S. Civil Service Commission by Republican President Benjamin Harrison in 1889 and was re-appointed by Democratic President Grover Cleveland in 1893 (UVA Miller Center Theodore Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency). In 1895, he accepted the position as New York City's Police Commissioner.He introduced the use of forensics, fingerprinting, rap sheets, and investigative departments (George Grant, Carry a Big Stick, p.56). President William McKinley appointed Theodore Roosevelt as undersecretary of the Navy in 1897.Immediately, Roosevelt began to expand and modernize America's navy, which ranked well behind those of Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, and Japan. In 1898, Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York on November 8 (George Grant, Carry a Big Stick, p. 58,59). His accomplishments while holding this position include:advancements in park and forestry programs, improvements in labor laws, and strengthening banking and insurance laws (NGA Governor Theodore Roosevelt). After McKinley's vice President, Garret Hobart died, Roosevelt took his place in June 1900. He began campaigning for McKinley immediately. It was during this time that he first said,"Speak softly and carry a big
Garfield had served in Congress for seventeen years, but had absolutely no interest in being president. When at the Republican National Convention, he was to give a speech to nominate a candidate for the Republican nominee in the presidential race. However, the people voted for him and to his dismay, Garfield became the nominee. As Garfield had no desire to be president, he did not campaign. He did give speeches to the people who showed up to his home, but that was it. Garfield won the election and was sworn in March 4, 1881.
In the next ten years of his life he made a lot of progress in his political career. In 1889 president Benjamin Harrison gave him the title of ³ Civil Service Commissioner.² In 1895 he resigned that job. He then became the president of new York City¹s ³ Board of Police Commissioners.² After two years of that he went back to Washington, this time as an assistant secretary of the navy. This political experience
In 1871, President Grant appointed Arthur as Collector of the port of New York. Arthur, like Grant, was a follower of the Spoils System. He served as vice- President until the time of Garfield's death. Upon becoming President he acted more as a status symbol than a government official. Arthur was always seen with the elite of Washington and other large cities. Congress, at the time, was also trying to limit some of the President's responsibilities.
Democrats nominated Mr. Cleveland in 1885. The citizens gave Cleveland a torchlight parade in Chicago honoring Cleveland's nomination (Adams, n.d.). Cleveland was victorious at the election with the support of his fellow Democrats and reform Republicans, also known as the "Mugwumps," whom disliked James G. Blaine of Maine, Grover Cleveland's opponent (Grover, 2015). Mr. Cleveland had won the election with 219 electoral votes, while Mr. Blaine had only received 182 electoral votes. March 4, 1885, Stephen Grover Cleveland officially became President of the United States (Adams, n.d.). Cleveland was known as the bachelor, but that had changed by June 1886. During this year Mr. Clevelend was wed to 21-year-old Frances Folsom; he has been the only President married in the White House (Grover, 2015). While in Clevelands first term he vetoed an abundant amount of private pension bills towards the Civil War veterans, whose claims were obtained. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting the pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Grover Cleveland Vetoed it as well (Grover, 2015). Grover Cleveland had later angered the railroads by constructing an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant. Cleveland forced the railroads to return 81,000,000 acres of land back to the Government and also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law to attempt Federal regulation of the railroads (Grover, 2015). December 1887, Grover Cleveland called upon Congress to reduce the high protective tariffs. Spoken that he had given Republicans and issue for the compaign of 1888, Mr. Cleveland retorted, "What is the use of being elect or re-elected unless you stand for something?" (Grover, 2015). By the end of Cleveland's first term, he had been nominated by the Democrats
James Abram Garfield, 20th President of United States was born on November 19, 1831 in Ohio. His father died when he was only 17 months old, raised by his mother he attended school and went to work in his home town. A good student, James Garfield developed himself as a great speaker and passionate debater while attending college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Later on he preached in church and went on to teach at Eclectic institute, got married in 1858 and had seven children. During the Civil war he joined the union army and led his infantry division to victory of Jenny's Creek in 1862. As a result he was promoted to Brigadier General and then as a Chief of Staff under General Williams S. Rosecrans commanding the army of Cumberland. During this period he ran for the congress on advice of President Abraham Lincoln and became the member of the house from Ohio. A republican by ideology, Garfield became a part of U.S. senate in 1880 and was later on elected as President of the United States in March 1881. After only 6 months on July 2, 1881 he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, he survived the assassination attempt but could not survive the infection caused by the bullet lodged in his spine. Garfield died on September 19, 1881 at the age of 50 surviving for 80 days after the assassination attempt.
Cleveland still was working a full time job as governor of New York. ‘’By 1884, he was a national figure, and he was nominated as Democratic ‘’clean-government’’ candidate for President’’ (Columbia 1). A year later, Cleveland became the twenty second President of The United States. ‘’Cleveland by 28,685 votes, became the first Democratic President to be elected since James Buchanan in 1865’’ (Handlin 670). Cleveland was honestly a business man. During his term, he wanted to end the evilness of the government and make better men of the government.
After the war, Garfield was in the running for president. In 1880, Garfield defeated General Winfield Scott Hancock by about 10,000 votes. Garfield’s short time as president was mostly spent in organization of his cabinet and political maneuvers. On July 2, 1881, an angry attorney who was refused an appointment shot and killed Garfield while he was going to a Williams College reunion. The killer was Charles Guiteau, and was executed by hanging in 1882. Garfield was near death for almost three months. Doctors and inventor Alexander
Contrary to popular belief at the time, Chester A. Arthur’s time in office was widely renowned as a success. By signing the Pendleton Act, Arthur was able to vanquish the patronage system, and create a new system that appointed officials based on merit and qualification. Although signing this bill would cost him the opportunity to be named as the Republican Nominee for his re-election, the Pendleton Act would keep corruption low and allow more competent officials to be appointed into office.
Ideally, a king has an old look, a great amount of power, and naturally rules his domain with an iron fist in literature. In the two works, Le Morte d'Arthur and First Knight see two different versions of how king Arthur is portrayed. Yet the honor and respect that a king should have remains undisturbed, much like how both are products of their time. First Knight is told as a modern retelling of the legend and Le Morte d'Arthur is a minorly altered, much older work. While the depictions of king Arthur are seen as the paramount backbone for arthurian times, these two works have also proven to exhibit differences and similarities, illustrate Arthur’s figure in character, and serve as preservation of the time period.
Although King Arthur is one of the most well-known figures in the world, his true identity remains a mystery. Attempts to identify the historical Arthur have been unsuccessful, since he is largely a product of fiction. Most historians, though, agree that the real Arthur was probably a battle leader of the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons in the sixthth century. In literature, King Arthur's character is unique and ever changing, taking on a different face in every work. There is never a clearly definitive picture that identifies Arthur's character. It is therefore necessary to look at a few different sources to get better insight into the character of Arthur, the once and future king.