Chester A. Arthur's presidential mint medal is one of the few numismatic related collectibles that are available for this largely forgotten president. "Chet Arthur President? Oh God!!!!" That was the reaction that many well informed Americans had in the fall of 1881 when they heard that President James Garfield had died and that Vice President Arthur would succeed him. Chester Alan Arthur was an "accidental president." No one ever believed that he would one day become the Chief Executive, and given his career as a "wirepuller" and political hack, many feared the worst. The vice presidency was the first elective office that Arthur had ever held. Before that he had been a diligent campaign worker who ultimately landed one of the great plums in civil service, the Collector of the Port of New York. There he earned a salary and commissions that resulted in an income that exceeded that of the President of the United States. It was also Arthur's job to extract contributions from Customs House employees to finance political campaigns. If you didn't kick in to the campaign coffers, you wouldn't keep you job. Rutherford B. Hays was elected under questionable circumstances in 1876. Perhaps to clean up his image, he forced Chester Arthur out of his well paying job as the Collector for the Port of New York. Although Arthur campaigned for Rutherford B. Hays, once Hays was sworn in as President, he eased Arthur out of his Customs House job. The problem was that Arthur, despite six hours of testimony, was unable to convince a civil service commission that employees had been promoted on merit alone and not contributions and kickbacks. Hays offered Arthur an assignment in France, and when he refused, Chet Arthur was practicing law again the private sector. Former president, U.S. Grant, ran for the Republican Party nomination in 1880. He was the candidate for the Stalwart Republicans who were viewed as the conservatives. This piece, which was struck at the Philadelphia Mint, was given out at a parade that was held in his honor on December 16, 1879. It is viewed as an 1880 campaign token. James G. Blaine was the candidate for "half breed" or slightly more reform minded Republicans in 1880. He would win the presidential nomination in 1884. This piece is from that campaign. Blaine's nickname was "the plumed knight," which was used to deflect the fact that he had taken questionable payments from the railroad industry. In 1880 the Republican Party split into to two factions, the conservative Stalwart Republicans and the slightly more reform minded "half breed" Republicans. The Stalwarts supported former President Ulysses Grant for President while the "half breeds" backed Maine Senator James G. Blaine. Neither candidate could win the nomination and ultimately the convention settled upon compromise candidate, James Garfield. In an effort to unite the party, Garfield picked Arthur, a Stalwart Republican, to be his running mate. Chester Arthur appears behind the 1880 Republican presidential candidate, James Garfield on this piece from the 1880 campaign. This piece is fairly common. Most people assumed that like most vice presidents, Arthur would disappear into the background, but that assumption was shattered when an assassin shot Garfield at a railroad station in Washington, DC. Garfield lingered for more than two agonizing months before he died. Had the doctors left the bullet in Garfield's body, he might have survived, but they chose to probe his wound with their unsterile bare fingers and instruments. Garfield developed an infection which ultimately caused his death. As President, Arthur surprised everyone by his support for civil service reform. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act would be his crowning achievement. He also broke with Republican Party tradition and supported a reduction in tariffs as well as vetoing a river and harbors act that was loaded with pork barrel spending. In short, Arthur made an honest effect to be an effective, ethical President. This pinback is one of the few political items that issued while Chester Arthur was president. It is quite rare. Breaking with party traditions cost Arthur at the 1884 Republican Party convention. His bid to win the presidential nomination fell shot because of his defections from the party norms. In addition, Arthur had health problems, a then-fatal case of Bright's Disease, which would cost him his life in 1886. Finding any sort of Chester Arthur campaign piece is virtually impossible. While pieces that show him as the running mate of James Garfield are fairly common, finding anything with Arthur alone is very difficult.
No, Chet Arthur was not King Kalakaua I of Hawaii, but their mutton chop whiskers make them look similar.
Excellent write-up. If you're interested and haven't read it, the book "Destiny of the Republic" tells the story of Garfield's two months of agony and all the ways he was badly served by his doctors.
