The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883)
Required some federal jobs to be filled by competitive examination rather than patronage
US Presidents · 19th century
Chester A. Arthur
1829–1886 · American
Republican
In office: 1881–1885
Chester A. Arthur, a product of Roscoe Conkling's New York Republican machine and former Collector of the Port of New York, became the 21st president on James Garfield's death in 1881. Surprising his critics, he signed the Pendleton Act, which introduced merit-based appointments to the civil service. He also signed the Chinese Exclusion Act and was not renominated in 1884.
How to spot them
- ▸Succeeded the assassinated Garfield in 1881
- ▸Signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (1883) despite his spoils-system background
- ▸A 'Stalwart' protégé of Roscoe Conkling; removed as Collector of the Port of New York by Hayes
- ▸Nicknamed 'the Gentleman Boss' and 'Elegant Arthur'; had Louis Comfort Tiffany redecorate the White House
In office
The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Suspended Chinese labour immigration, after he had vetoed a longer 20-year version
Tiffany glass screen installed in the White House (1882)
Louis Comfort Tiffany redecorated the state rooms; old furnishings were auctioned off
Building the 'steel navy' (1883)
Congress funded the first modern steel cruisers for the US Navy
Quick-fire facts
- •The 21st President of the United States
- •Born in Fairfield, Vermont; opponents claimed he had really been born in Canada
- •Secretly suffered from Bright's disease, a kidney illness, and died in 1886
- •Hayes removed him as Collector of the Port of New York in 1878
- •Sworn in at his home in New York City after Garfield's death in September 1881
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Sources
- Miller Center, University of Virginia — Chester A. Arthur