The year 1881 saw the appointment of Chester Alan Arthur as the 21st President of the United States. Arthur’s story goes back to his birthplace in Cullybackey, Ballymena in Northern Ireland. The ideologies of Henry Clay were the biggest motivation for Arthur. Before joining politics, Arthur was an affiliate of the Stalwart, which was a section of the Republican Party. (Greyfield) As a young man, Arthur had a close relationship with Roscoe Conkling, something that saw President Ulysses Grant appointing him as the Collector of the Port of New York. Before he was elected the Vice President under Garfield, Arthur was practicing law. Garfield was however shot and wounded on the head on July 2, 1881 and he eventually died from infections on the wound in September 1881. This was followed by Arthur’s swearing in as President of the United States. (Doyle & Swaney 61)
During the American Civil War in 1862, Governor Edwin D. Morgan elected Arthur as Inspector-General of the State Militia. Later that year, Arthur was elevated to the office of Quartermaster-General of the State Militia where he served throughout the year. The two offices were political appointments and he did his work until the end of the war. (Mitchell) He then went back to his law career in New York City. While serving as collector, he sided with Stalwarts of the Republican Party, which advocated for the spoils system despite the fact that there was too much controversy. Arthur advocated for sincere and open management of the Customs House for better results. He however appointed more personal than it was required maintaining most of them for their loyalty to the party rather than on their skills and competence. Arthur served in this position up to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes revoked his position. (Thomas 318)
After Arthur was removed from the Collector’s position, he went back to practicing law. Conkling and other Stalwarts chose Grant to run for a third term in the 1880 Republican National Convention. This did not however go well and James A. Garfield defeated him. Garfield and his supporters decided to let the Stalwarts have the vice presidency. Although Conkling and other members did not want this offer, Arthur saw it as a great opportunity and accepted it. Although the Stalwarts did not like the idea, they agreed to appoint Arthur to be the Vice president. This is how he came to be the Vice President under Garfield in the 1880 election. Conkling wanted President Garfield to appoint more Stalwarts in his administration and Arthur supported him against President Garfield. (Criscione 1)
In July 1881, President Garfield was assassinated by a political nemesis called Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was a Stalwart who was politically frustrated for failing to attain high office. (Vowell, 240) Garfield initially survived the attack but his health deteriorated because of complications arising from the wound. This led to President Garfield’s death on September 19, 1881. Arthur was sworn in as President of the United States in 1881. As a president, Arthur was conscious of the wrangles and divisions in the Republican Party. There were also disagreements of cronyism as well as civil service changes. As the President, Arthur decided to keep away from both groups in order to attain confidence from the public. He became a man with his own stand and did not let any group in the Republican Party manipulate him in his decisions. He angered his former Stalwart friends by supporting the civil service reform. (Peskin 698)
Arthur achieved a number of accomplishments while in office making his administration to be liked by many people. Arthur advocated for lower tariff rates and in this way, he saved the government from yearly in excess of revenue. He passed the Tariff Act of 1883, which left many party members unsatisfied. Some even joined hands with the Democratic Party and the issue of tariff became a main political topic in the two parties. In the year 1883, he also advocated for the passing of the Pendleton Act. This made the Civil Service Commission more open thus avoiding charging political evaluations against those in office. This Act made available a classified system, which ensured that government offices were reachable only by competitive printed assessments. In this way, personnel could not be revoked just because of political motives. (McPhee)
During his presidency, Arthur passed the renowned Edmunds Act, which allowed only monogamists to vie for political offices. This Act was particularly put into effect in Utah, which had many polygamists and bigamists. On top of this act, Arthur orchestrated the establishment of the Federal immigration law that is in effect up to date. Arthur made some remarkable achievements in the foreign policy. It was during his administration that the United States came to be among the first Western nation to develop political associations with Asian countries like Korea. This was after the approval of the Shufeldt Treaty. United States sustained political associations with Korea up to 1905 when it became a colony of Japan after the Russo-Japanese War ended. The International Meridian conference took place in Washington D.C in 1884 under President Arthur’s command. This led to the creation of the Greenwich Meridian and global equivalence of time, which are utilized even in the modern day. (Thatcher)
The policy that was viewed by many as a failure on the part of Arthur and his administration was the Chinese Exclusion Act. This was made in reaction to anti-Chinese attitude in America, and Congress approved the Act. This act made it illegal for any Chinese workers to immigrate to the United States for twenty years. The act did not also allow the Chinese Americans who were living in the United States to receive American citizenship. Arthur at first did not agree and banned the act arguing that it went against the Burlingame Treaty. However, when the years were reduced to ten, he approved and passed the bill. Chinese Americans still were not able to acquire American citizenship. The Act was revised after every ten years up to the time the National Origins Act of 1924 removed Chinese immigration since the provision was made in 1890. The Act was significantly influential thus was not totally revoked up to 1943, which was sixty-one years later. This was the period that United States was united with Nationalist China in the war towards Japan at the time of World War II. At the time, it became apparent that the act was awkward and thus it was canceled. (Mitchell)
President Arthur had a disease that the public did not know about while in office. He was having Bright’s disease, which affects the kidneys. He was not looking very healthy in the Congress elections of 1882 and this shows that this is when he started having the problem. In 1884, Arthur did seek to be nominated by the Republican Party but he was not successful. James G. Blaine who was Speaker of the House as well as Secretary of State took the nomination. He did not however win in the general election but instead a Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland was elected president. While he was leaving office, Arthur’s condition was worse and the doctors revealed to him that he did not have much time to live. His health worsened with time and there was no cure for the fatal kidney disease. (Health Media LAB)
When he left office in 1885, he went back to his law practice. However, this did not work very well because of his absence from work most of the time due to his sickness. Arthur was seen in public very rarely and by summer the same year he did not appear in public at all. He stayed in New London and went back to his home in October that year while his condition was grave. He made a decision to leave the law practice and hence he had all his papers burnt. On November 17, Arthur got an attack that made him unconscious and he did not wake up again. The following day, Arthur died and was buried close to his wife Ellen in their family grave. He had a very short period to live after the presidency just like James Polk who had lived 103 days once he left office. Arthur was mourned by many and was remembered for his unique dressing and consistent way of doing things. (Essortment)
Arthur was famed for his large wardrobe and the unique clothes that he wore while he associated with the elite in the society. While in presidency, Arthur was above reproach and made his decisions solely without any influence from any side. He is remembered for passing a bill that increased corruption before going to presidency but straightened the mistake while in the presidency. During his tenure, he passed major immigration acts in American history including the Chinese Exclusion Act. All his moves were calculated and he made many changes in the navy to civilize it. He made great achievements in ensuring that corruption was eliminated in the army while doing great and unique redecoration of the White House. When he became president, many people did not trust him since they did not know him. This was because he was a vice president who became a president. Even after his presidency, Arthur remained liked by the people for the way he acted and treated everyone. His legacy remains and many remember him for all his actions and the way he served the nation. (Lorenz)
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833, North Bend, Hamilton County, in Ohio. Harrison inherited his political traits from his family since his grandfather Henry Harrison had been a president before him. His great grandfather Benjamin Harrison had also been a former governor of Virginia State. When he was only 14 years old, Harrison went to Farmer’s College to further his education. In 1850, he went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and joined Phi Delta Theta group. During this time, he had an opportunity to learn about his family’s political lineage. Afterwards, he studied law at various universities. While at Oxford, he met Caroline Lavinia Scott whom they fell in love with and got married in 1853. They had two children Russell Benjamin Harrison and Mary Scott Harrison. (Socolofsky & Spetter 215)
Harrison’s family was mainly from the Whig Party and he became a supporter of Whig policies earlier on. When the Republican Party was formed, Harrison became one of its first members. He was elected the Indianapolis City Attorney in the year 1856. In 1858, Harrison joined a law firm partnership, which they called Wallace and Harrison. In 1860, Harrison was chosen as the party’s reporter at the Supreme Court. This was his initial encounter and involvement with politics. Wallace got a job as a clerk in 1860, thus the law firm was closed. He joined into another partnership with Fishback and their firm was called Fishback and Harrison. He stayed in this partnership until the time he entered the army. (Wallace &Halstead 460)
In 1862, Harrison joined the army when he realized there was a need for more recruits. Governor Oliver Morton gave Harrison the duty of recruiting regiment in the region of Indiana. The same year that Harrison joined the army, he rose in rank to the position of Second Lieutenant. In the middle of the year, he left Indiana and went ahead to join the Union Army in Louisville, Kentucky. Later on, he was put in charge of the Indiana infantry in the position of a colonel. In 1864, Harrison worked with William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign staying at the frontier. He also was involved in the war of Battle of Nashville and was later promoted to Brigadier General. He participated in the Grand Review in Washington D.C until the time he resigned from the army. (Calhoun 170)
During his tenure at the army, Harrison had the privilege to report for the Supreme Court of Indiana a position he held for four years. This post was not politically influential but it allowed him good earnings. His political breakthrough came when President Grant chose him to stand for the central government in a civil declaration. In this way, the government did not pay many damages to the claims and thus Harrison became a key Republican figure. Many asked him to run for Congress but he preferred to support other Republican candidates. In this way, many Republicans liked him and he entered the political arena in 1872. In this year, he ran for governor with a Republican ticket. Former governor Oliver Morton did not help him and Thomas M. Browne beat him. He went back to his law practice even though there was the issue of the Panic of 1873. (Moore & Hale 138)
However, this did not stop him from making public speeches for his Republican colleagues as well as standing up for Republican policies. In 1876, Harrison was not involved in the nomination for governor but when the preferred candidate dropped out, he agreed to take the Republican ticket. He made his campaign promises based on economic policy. During the campaigns, he was advocating for the issue of dropping the national currency. However, he was not elected and a Democrat won with a large margin. Harrison went on to be an influential Republican in Indiana and a strong supporter of the party’s ideologies. In the time of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, he assisted in reconciling the employees and their supervisors to maintain public order. In 1878, Harrison was nominated to be Senator but he failed in his bid. Instead of staying out in the cold, President Hayes gave him the mandate to head a commission that had the obligation of cleaning the Mississippi river, a position he held for one year. (Calhoun 174)
In 1880, Harrison was one of the delegates during the national convention of the Republican Party. He became a Senator in 1881 and even though President Garfield presented him a cabinet position, he refused the offer. A main event in 1881 that Harrison had to deal with was the extra budget. He advocated for using the money for internal advancements and paying Civil War heroes. He also advocated for the assistance of Southerners mainly the liberated slaves’ children to acquire education but Congress did not accept this. He felt that this was going to bring equality between blacks and whites both politically and economically. He also did not side with his party members on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 since he felt that it was going against the agreements they had with China. (Moore & Hale 138)
In the 1888 presidential nomination, James G. Blaine was the favorite candidate but he did not wish to run for presidency. This is when Harrison was chosen and became the presidential candidate for the Republican Party with Levi P. Morton as his running mate. Harrison was running against President Grover Cleveland and he campaigned in the old-fashioned way of giving speeches in his home ground. The Republicans campaigned actively especially on their main beliefs like the protective tariffs thus many entrepreneurs felt that they could depend on the Republican Party. Harrison’s long time dream of attaining the presidency came true in the 188 elections when he defeated Cleveland in the general elections. The popular vote was however close but Harrison was the one that had more votes. He therefore became the 23rd President of the United States. (Sievers 99)
When Harrison took office, he achieved many accomplishments and foresaw many changes in various sectors. In the civil service, Harrison was for the merit system rather than the spoils system. He made appointments in such a way that avoided causing chaos in either side. He also passed the Dependent and Disability Pension Act, which he had raised while in Congress but was disapproved. This act provided for pensions to those who had serviced the country in the war despite their disabilities. In this way, all the excess money for the budget was used up. During this time, the budget expenditure was very high. The issue of the tariffs was very controversial at the time Harrison came to power. He suggested to Congress that there be a provision to decrease the tariff in the event that other nations reduced their tariff on American exports. He saw to it that the tariff was eliminated in the sugar industry thus giving producers a two percent subsidy. (Sievers 102)
The two parties argued on the influence of trusts and monopolies thus they approved the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act was very popular and Harrison approved it. This marked the very first National act providing a new way of utilizing national government authority. The authority was used during the case involving the Tennessee Coal Company while Harrison was president. Many questions arose on whether to use gold or silver as currency or both. Harrison did not dwell on this issue much but he elected a silverite Treasury Secretary William Windom. In this way, the promotion of silver as the common currency continued in his administration. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was also passed in 1890, which Harrison felt would end debates and disagreements on the issue. This however caused gold’s’ higher depletion and the issue continued until Cleveland came to power and solved it. (Moore &Hale 140)
Harrison pushed for the Federal Elections Bill that had been suggested but it was rejected in the Senate. The civil rights law did not come up again up to the 1920s. However, Harrison went on to campaign for African American civil rights in Congress. He felt that the United States constitution did not give him permission to end the issue of execution. During his tenure, there was a great development in Science and technology. Harrison voice is kept even today as the recording machines came to be used at the time. He foresaw the installation of electricity for the very first time in the White House. The Edison General Electric Company did this but they were not very comfortable touching the switches fearing electrocution. However, this changed with time when many more people began installing electricity in their households thus making the technology highly welcome. (Moore &Hale 140)
In the area of foreign policy, Harrison faced fishing problems in Alaskan, Canada. Canada felt that United States was going against the law and this led to the seizure of Canadian ships by United States. In 1891, talks started with the British about fishing rights and a settlement was reached with British government paying damages in 1898. There was also a predicament between United States and Chile in 1891. Disagreement occurred on how to deal with refuges from Chilean Civil War where two Americans were killed in the process. Harrison administration demanded for compensation on the damages and war was avoided after the demands were settled. Harrison was faced with the issue of Hawaiian take over by the United States. He felt that American authority could be extended to Hawaii by having a naval base. He however had no intentions of taking over Hawaii. (Calhoun 178)
The economic stability of the country was not doing well in Harrison’s regime. This was worsened by the Panic of 1893 and his popularity began to decrease. In the 1890 nomination, the Republicans were not united on one candidate and no one liked Harrison. Blaine was nominated but he declined and thus Harrison took the nomination. The Democrats nominated former president Cleveland and it became a race that had happened before. Many Republicans however left the party to the new Populist Party that had James Weaver for presidency. The elections took place in 1892 and Cleveland came out the winner. Harrison went back to Indiana after the presidency but still supported his Republican colleagues. He however did not have any desire to vie for presidency any more. Harrison died in 1901 from influenza when he was sixty-seven years old. (Harrison 359)
William McKinley
Although William McKinley was born in Ohio, he grew up in a different country after his parents migrated to Poland. He studied in Poland Seminary, and then went to Mount Union College. In this school, he joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon organization, and later on went to Allegheny College in the year 1860. In 1861, when the American Civil War had begun, McKinley joined the Union Army in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His boss, Rutherford B. Hayes had him promoted to commissary sergeant because of his good performance in war. Hayes later promoted him to Second Lieutenant and he was promoted severally at the time of the war until he became captain and brevet major in 1865. In 1867, he joined Albany Law School and was admitted in the bar. In 1869 to 1871, McKinley worked as prosecuting attorney in Canton. (Dobson 214)
McKinley entered politics in the Republican Party while having public speeches for his boss Rutherford Hayes in Canton. Hayes assisted McKinley to be appointed as a Republican in the United States House of Representatives for Ohio, working between 1877 and 1882. He was then elected for a second term that lasted between 1885 and 1891. McKinley was appointed chairperson of the Committee on Revision of the Laws in the year 1881 to 1883. In 1889 to 1891, McKinley was the chairperson in the Committee on the Ways of the Means and it was in 1890 that he made the McKinley Tariff, which became unpopular leading to the defeat of the Republican Party by Democrats in 1890. In this way, he did not capture his seat because of his infamous tariff bill as well as partially because of gerrymandering. (Holbo 1325)
In 1891, McKinley was elected as governor of Ohio, which was after he had left Congress. In 1892, he supported the reelection of President Benjamin Harrison. In 1893, he was successful to be reelected as governor of Ohio. In his service as governor, McKinley enforced an excise tax on companies, acquired safe laws for transportation of employees and prevented anti-union actions of managers. McKinley was a generous leader and he mainly provided food and clothing to people who were in need. In 1896, he resigned from his position as governor and went ahead to seek presidential nomination by the Republican Party. He felt that this move was necessary because of how well he has passed in the Congress elections of 1894. The Democratic Party was divided because of the concept of slavery and Americans felt that Glover Cleveland had contributed to the economic decline in the country. (Dobson 215)
McKinley won the Republican Party nomination for the presidency by a large margin. McKinley campaign promises included the issue of advancing industry and the banking sector. He also made the promise of ensuring prosperity to all individuals in the country. He further said that the protective tariff was going to bring success to everyone in the country. He argued that free silver was bound to cause inflation while on the other hand, no job opportunities would be created and bankruptcy would increase. He argued that this was going to destroy the economy and it would be dangerous to the nation. Many people from the cities felt that McKinley was going to help them achieve prosperity. He used the most recent technology to campaign together with his supporters. A few weeks before elections, the ratings of McKinley against his opponent Bryan has increased greatly. He became the favorite candidate for many people in the country. (Holbo 1328)
McKinley won the election of 1896 and was sworn in as the President of the United States in 1897. True to his word, he accomplished most of the promises he made including in the domestic affairs. During his administration, restoration of commerce, agriculture and universal developments for the nation took place. The entrepreneurs had confidence in the new regime and there was stability in the country. In the same year that he was sworn in, McKinley oversaw the signing of a treaty that officially saw Hawaii become a part of the United States. The government of Hawaii tried to avoid this but they did not have enough support of the United State Senate. In 1882, McKinley administration expanded the Chinese Exclusion Act all the way to the islands and thus Chinese migration from Hawaii to the mainland was not permitted. The country was making progress in many sectors under the governorship of McKinley. (Holbo 1328)
The McKinley administration engineered numerous changes in the civil service to allow its flexibility. The merit system that had been a Republican policy was revived and supported by McKinley himself. In this way, government positions were supposed to be made with through assessments being done first. This was to prevent the mistakes that had been made especially in the Spanish war where appointments were made as emergencies. The bill of Ways and Means was also passed and was accepted by McKinley in 1897. McKinley wished to have the American manufactures being superior in the international markets and thus he advocated for foreign markets. This involved the taking over of Hawaii and extending interests in China. In this way, he was able to allow the Americans to make significant control over the world markets. (Hamilton 200)
It was during McKinley’s regime that the Spanish-American War was experienced. In the beginning, McKinley did not intend to take over Cuba but just meant to save it from Spanish repression. During this time, reports were emerging in the American media on Spanish killings in Cuba and how Spain was using cruel military procedures to thwart Cuban’s revolt. Spain would constantly guarantee that they would make changes but these changes were delayed and in the end, they never happened at all. This caused serious demands for war especially from the Democrats and from many prominent newspapers. McKinley together with the entrepreneurs, assisted by the House Speaker refused to go to war. In 1898, a U.S.S. Marine was sent to Havana and in the process exploded and 260 men died. The matter was taken to Congress and a decision was made by Congress to go to war. After three months of war, Spain conceded defeat and they agreed to sign a peace treaty. The Treaty of Paris was signed in July 1898, and United State took over Guam, Philippines and Puerto Rico. United States had also a temporary authority over Cuba and Hawaii was taken over. (Hamilton 200)
McKinley also ensured that civil rights were protected for all Americans. He was against slavery and did not advocate for violation of human rights in any way. During his regime, many killings, tortures and civil rights abuse took place towards African Americans in many parts of the country. McKinley said that equality and justice should not just be on paper but rather it was supposed to be practiced. He argued that the African Americans were not supposed to be forsaken but rather their rights were the same as those for all people. He further stated that this was not something that would happen in future but rather it was supposed to happen out rightly according to the Constitution of the United States. He argued that things could not be said to be right if the rights of all citizens were not respected. He called for all institutions to practice and adhere to the laws of the country and practice equality for all. (Hamilton 202)
In 1900, McKinley was re-elected and this time round his policies included the issue of foreign policy. He was running against Bryan but he won with a large margin and was still the people’s popular candidate. Once he was sworn in, McKinney made a decision to visit the western states. He also made a trip to San Francisco. This was in a way to prove how confident he was about the idea of leading America well just like he had done in the previous term. His wife was sick while on the journey but she got well and many people who came to see them marveled at the presidential entourage. Once he went back home in Canton, he made preparation on the speech he intended to give at a Pan American Exposition in Buffalo. The event was mainly to support the idea of peace in the western regions. Many people attended the fair and were all-eager at what the President had to say about the future. (Holbo 1333)
In his speech, he urged all Americans to sell their goods outside while at the same time buying from other countries. He stressed on the importance of the protective tariff and how it would lead to expansion of commerce in the region. This was his last public speech that took place in 1901. The next day he visited Niagara Falls and then went back to the Temple of Music to greet people who were waiting to see him. Leon Czolgosz was in the crowd unknown to anyone that he had intentions to do harm. Leon was a man who complained that there was no social justice and felt that the President was to be blamed for that. He stood among the crowd having a revolver enclosed secretly in his handkerchief. The line was long as McKinley was doing his honorable duty of greeting all the citizens. Once he was close to Leon, he took the revolver in his hand and shot twice at the President. (Dobson 216)
McKinley was rushed to hospital where doctors realized that his wound was very grave and his condition was bad. He was transferred from the Milburn house and they then managed to remove one of the bullets that were close to the shoulder. The other bullet became hard to remove and the doctors feared they would make the situation worse by removing it. Since his condition seemed to be faring well they decided to leave it. A week after he was shot, McKinley was able to eat a little and he seemed to be doing fine. He told his wife that Gods’ will would be done. Immediately after, the president began feeling bad and died the following morning bringing to a close the life of an honorable man. (Hamilton 204)
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