Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur ([Signature series book])

Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur ([Signature series book])
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one of the best presidential biographies

Chester Arthur Revealed

An obscure president steps from the shadows

Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur ([Signature series book])
Thomas C. Reeves
Manufacturer: American Political Biography Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0945707037

Customer Reviews:

one of the best presidential biographies.......2005-09-19

Over the last several years, I've read more than 30 presidential biographies. I would rate Reeves' biography of Chester Arthur in the top ten. Given the subject matter, this is especially noteworthy. It's one thing to write an interesting biography of Teddy Roosevelt. It is something more to write a great book about Chester Arthur. Gentleman Boss is highly readable, well researched, and presents the corruption of the times in detail and in context.

Certainly the post-Civil Wars years were the low point in US politics in terms of the quality of our presidents, the corruption of the elections, and politicians' contemptible disregard for actually addressing any of the problems of the day.

Chester Arthur was probably the most corrupted politician to become President (but most biographies minimize this part of the story - so its often hard to tell). The first two-thirds of Gentleman Boss details Arthur's years prior to his becoming President. He was a spoils man in the New York machine, controlled assessments of public employees, and managed patronage for the Stalwart branch of the Republican Party for more than 20 years. The investigations of the New York customs house and stolen election of 1876 are presented in fascinating detail. As the spoils system got more and more unfavorable press, and various investigations began, Arthur lied again and again. He participated in large vote buying schemes and bragged of this in a famous speech at Delmonico's Restaurant following his election as Vice President. His nomination to be Vice President was an affront to anyone who was interested in cleaning up politics. Even after he was elected Vice President, he worked hard to undermine President Garfield by trying to fix more jobs (and overthrow Garfield appointees in New York).

Arthur was very intelligent and a brilliant organizer. In these regards but almost no other he was well-qualified to be president. The last third of Reeves' book describes Arthur's presidency and his effort to rise above his past and not dishonor the office. This portion of the book seems anti-climatic, but the first 250 pages are not to be missed.

Chester Arthur Revealed.......2000-08-18

He is certainly one of the most obscure Presidents in American history. I enjoy reading about people who achieve high office, fame or fortune, probably because I want to find a link among them that predated their successes. In reading this excellent and very balanced biography, I came away with at least 3 lessons: 1) That blind luck can be the key ingredient in a man's success, for the early life and times of Chester Arthur no more predicted greatness than did those of Harry Truman (Truman, at least, was essentially honorable), 2) that is indeed possible for the Office to make the man, for once he became President, Arthur overcame many of his moral inadequacies, and 3) that for all we complain about American politics today, the state of the State in the late 19th century was more corrupt than most 21st century Americans would ever imagine possible. For these three lessons alone, the book is certainly a worthwhile read.

An obscure president steps from the shadows.......1999-11-25

High school history books tell you Chester "Chet" Arthur was a "dandy," a machine politician and an accidental president, but little more. This highly readable, very informative and interesting biography adds much historical flesh to the bare-bones treatment Arthur gets in text books. A man who is all but a caricature to generations of students is made fully human, with all the positives and negatives that entails. And while chronicling the president's life the author also chronicles a fascinating era in American political history, the day when the party bosses ruled and presidential candidates were chosen in smoke-filled rooms and not in state primaries; primaries may be more democratic, but they sure are a lot less interesting to read about. If you enjoy presidential history, add this book to your library.

Chester Alan Arthur (The American Presidents)

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Good introduction to a deservedly obscure president
This is all there is to say about Arthur.
A nearly forgotten president
Informative book about an average president
A LAIDBACK, GENTLEMAN PRESIDENT

Chester Alan Arthur (The American Presidents)
Zachary Karabell , and Arthur M. Schlesinger
Manufacturer: Times Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0805069518

Book Description

Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880-despite his never having run for office before. Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt 'spoils system.' To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come. Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president-of whom so little was expected-rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House.

Customer Reviews:

Good introduction to a deservedly obscure president.......2006-08-16

Not all presidents are created equal. While there are plenty of big name presidents - Washington, Lincoln, FDR, etc. - there are also plenty of obscure ones who are mere footnotes in American history. Chester Arthur definitely fits in this latter category. As Zachary Karabell's brief biography relates, this obscurity is well-deserved. Arthur was neither good nor bad and served in a time that had no real crises.

Arthur spent most of his career in appointed positions, not seeking election until asked to be Garfield's running mate as an attempt to balance the two wings of the Republican party. Arthur was, to be blunt, a party hack, a loyal Republican who may have been honest but was no activist. Instead, Arthur was a realist who rarely let his ideals overwhelm his pragmatism. Accepting the vice presidency only out of party loyalty and with no ambition for the top office; when Garfield was assassinated, Arthur wound up being one of the most reluctant presidents ever.

Arthur did have some redeeming values and occasionally took risks, such as when he vetoed a clearly racist immigration bill. For the most part, however, he rarely pushed his ideas very hard. The most significant legislation to arise during his presidency dealt with civil service reform, but he didn't provide much leadership on the issue. When he did become president, he put the office above party loyalty, which would cost him any chance at the nomination in the next election.

As part of the American Presidents series, this biography is very brief (less that 150 pages) and focuses primarily on Arthur's tenure in office. With these editorial limitations, Karabell is restricted in giving much real details on Arthur, who winds us being a remote character who it's hard to get a feel for. Nonetheless, this is a well-written book and Karabell is able to put Arthur in the context of his times. As an introduction to this minor Chief Executive, this book works well.

This is all there is to say about Arthur........2005-04-27

As a cursory look at the shelves of any bookstore would show, figures such as Lincoln, Churchill, or the Roosevelts are often frequented by biographers to various levels of success. This is possible given both the amount of writings and speeches left behind from these types of figures, and their enduring influence in today's government and society.

Harder to write are biographies on historical figures who seemed to have only passed through the night, important as links in a chain, but without personal significance in their own right. In the American Presidents series, John Dean was successful in resuscitating life into the otherwise dead legend of Warren Harding. Less successful was Kevin Phillips' book on William McKinley.

Alas, this short bio on Chester Arthur by Zachary Carabell falls closer to the latter than the former in trying to find interest in a long forgotten president. Carabell acknowledges the difficulty with his subject since Arthur was the accidental president (took office after Garfield's assassination) and a person who was satisfied in acting as the unseen executive in the political machine.

Arthur left no historical papers of interest. The most interesting anecdote was his venture into the 1850's Kansas-Missouri civil war. But even this ended without drama with his running back on almost the next train to New York.

The author seeks to find importance to the Arthur administration, but his efforts are in vain. The author's best effort was discussing Arthur's efforts to redecorate the White House. That Louis Tiffany was contracted by Arthur to be the decorator showed exceedingly good taste for the widower president.

As for policy, however, Carabell could only be said to have convinced himself that Arthur achieved any importance. Aside from some minor naval buildup, he initiated no legislation. Arthur vetoed a blatantly bigoted anti-immigration bill, but immediately signed a slightly revised version. He signed a civil service reform bill, but played no part in its passage and only after its passage by a lame-duck Congress that was soundly defeated in the just completed elections. The author concludes that Arthur could not be blamed for his party's resounding election defeats and later loss of the presidency, but that only magnifies his lack of influence within his own party and the electorate. Most odd was the author's stated surprise at the lack of biographies written about Arthur. After completing this work, one could only wonder why anyone would want to write anything more about him.

A nearly forgotten president.......2005-04-21

Back in the post Civil War days when many plum governmental jobs were gotten from political bosses, Chester A. Arthur had one of the best patronage jobs of all, collector at the US Customhouse in New York. Prior to the federal income tax, this was the country's principal source of income. The collector, under the perfectly legal rules of that time, got a commission on what he collected as well as a comfortable salary. If you paid an assessment to the party, you might be able to secure a patronage job. From this system arose the career of Arthur.

The Republican party was divided into factions. The stalwarts (who had been Ulysses S. Grant supporters) were led by Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York. There was a reform wing of the party and then there was a faction, led by James Blaine of Maine (hmmmm that rhymes) called the half breeds. Arthur was aligned with the stalwarts and the patronage system. As a stylish New York lawyer who was in to the local social scene, he was happy being part of the bureaucracy. At times, he would lose his spoils system position in the bureaucracy due to politics but, he always had his law practice to fall back on. In 1880, his life changed as he ended up as a sort of unoffending compromise candidate for vice president on the ticket led by James Garfield. They were elected and shorly thereafter, Garfield was assasinated. Arthur, who had no aspirations ended up as president. He was as reluctant to assume the presidency as the rest of the nation was to have him take that office.

There were low expectations for Arthur, after all, he was never elected to office other than as Grafield's running mate. However, although he may not have been a great leader, there were significant accomplishments during his term. Most notable was the Pendleton Civil Service Act which began the breakup of the spoils system from which Arthur had arisen. Arthur took moral stands opposing an anti Chinese immigrant piece of legislation and a pork barrel Rivers and Harbors bill. His opposition to both led to their being significantly modified but, he didn't have the political clout to ultimately prevent either from being enacted. All he really did was cut his stalwart ties without creating any real new alliance with the reformers.

Arthur was ill. He had a kidney disease. Also, he really didn't want to be president. However, pride made him seek the nomination in 1884. He had cut himself off from his stalwart base and was not renominated. The Republican nominee, Blaine, lost a close election to Grover Cleveland. All in all, Arthur wasn't a bad president and perhaps deserves to be remembered in history. However, he was not a great president either. The picture that author Zachary Karabell paints is of a president whose legacy may be that he did a decent job of presiding over a period of peace and prosperity.

Informative book about an average president.......2005-03-27

The wonderful thing about reading books concerning the US Presidents is that these men represent a finite group.....forty-two men and forty-three presidencies. Writing for "The American Presidents" series, Zachary Karabell has offered up a slightly expanded thumbnail sketch of our twenty-first president, Chester Alan Arthur.

Since Arthur held the office of president, someone has to write about him. The problem with President Arthur is that not much about him survives. Most of his papers were destroyed after his death, so Karabell must rely largely on newspaper accounts of the day mixed in with a few anecdotes regarding the president, which, as the author mentions, may or may not be true.

We know that Arthur was a bon vivant, never aspired to the presidency and was passable at being the chief executive during his tenure from 1881-1885. Indeed, most presidential ratings place Arthur squarely in the middle or slightly below. Even the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883, the most important piece of legislation passed during Arthur's presidency, was not a direct act of Arthur's leadership. (I think one more lasting thing to come out of the Arthur years, which Karabell doesn't touch on, is the adoption of Standard Time)

The author does his best to be fair. The few parts of this book with any real drama are Arthur's dealings with Senators Roscoe Conkling and James G. Blaine. The president certainly had a balancing act to do with these two bitter adversaries.

Chester Alan Arthur undoubtedly brought style and grace to the presidency and presided over a few relatively quiet and prosperous years in the United States. We should at least give him credit for that.

A LAIDBACK, GENTLEMAN PRESIDENT.......2004-12-10

The author, Zachary Karabell, writes an interesting, brief biography of Chester Alan Arthur the obscure 21st president of the United States. The text states "Chester Alan Arthur hadn't wanted to become the nation's chief executive. He certainly hadn't aspired to be vice president" and Karabell further notes "....Chester Alan Arthur may have the distinction of being the president who derived the least amount of pleasure from being president." Prior to becoming vice president he had been custom collector for the Port of New York, a well-paid lawyer and head of the New York Republican Party but had never been elected to public office.

He ran as Garfield's vice president in 1880, a campaign notable for what it lacked; "It was a contest of organization and will, not a battle over the future direction of the country." Ideology was ignored with politicians viewing "order as the most important good." With Garfield's assassination, Arthur became president on September 20, 1881. The text notes "No one knew what direction the Arthur administration would take, not even Arthur himself" and observes "As it turned out, the qualities he did possess allowed him to rise farther than many others who were more intelligent, dynamic, and driven."

He was president in an era when "the White House had shed much of the power it had acquired during the Civil War" and each national election was a patronage contest. The assassination of Garfield placed the issue of civil service reform on the front burner. The response was the Pendleton Civil Service Act, the most memorable legislation to emerge from Arthur's presidency. Zachary Karabell's account of Arthur's presidency is brief but informative. Besides civil service reform, the text covers Arthur's handling of Indian affairs, the Anti-Chinese sentiment, and his veto of the Rivers and Harbors Bill. However, in 1882 the Republicans lost control of the House and Arthur's chances for a second term were slim. Perhaps Author's most important contribution to the country was his resuscitation of the military. The army was somewhat sustained because of the Indian wars, but in less than twenty years since the Civil War, the navy had lost almost 90 percent of its ships. Arthur emphatically supported a plan to build ships "designed for offense and attack" and the text notes without Arthur "....[Teddy] Roosevelt and McKinley might not have had a navy capable of annihilating the Spanish in 1898." In addition, this helped to prepare the United States for the foreign affair challenges of the twentieth century.

Having lost his base support, Arthur was not nominated for a second term. The 1884 election was won by Grover Cleveland, a Democrat. As he left office Arthur was the object of warm political eulogies and the author writes "Arthur had become president with perilously low expectations, which he then exceeded. In essence, most people concluded that the Arthur administration hadn't been half bad." He died at age 56 less than two years after leaving office.

In conclusion, Karabell states Arthur "....tried to serve the general good rather than the interest of his faction..." and he "....did for civil service reform what he had done for most things in his life: he added a note of grace and honor, and the result was a balanced piece of legislation at a time when that was rare." The author concludes "In everything he did, Chester Alan Arthur was a gentleman and that is rare and precious" and closes stating "Arthur managed to be a decent man, a decent president in an era when decency was in short supply."

Americans would do well to read this brief biography of a somewhat obscure, laidback; but decent, honest, gentleman president.

Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-First President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)

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Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-First President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents)
Charnan Simon
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Chester Alan Arthur: The Life of a Gilded Age Politician And President (First Men, America's Presidents)

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Chester Alan Arthur: The Life of a Gilded Age Politician And President (First Men, America's Presidents)
Gregory J. Dehler
Manufacturer: Nova Science Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Chester A. Arthur Conspiracy
William Wiegand
Manufacturer: Doubleday
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385278748

Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-First President: 1881 - 1885 (Getting to Know the Us Presidents)

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Chester A. Arthur: Twenty-First President: 1881 - 1885 (Getting to Know the Us Presidents)
Mike Venezia
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0516254014

Chester A. Arthur (Presidential Leaders)

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Chester A. Arthur (Presidential Leaders)
Ruth Tenzer Feldman
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Chester A. Arthur, a quarter-century of machine politics (American classics)

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Chester A. Arthur, a quarter-century of machine politics (American classics)
George F Howe
Manufacturer: F. Ungar Pub. Co
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Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00089DVIG

Chester A. Arthur, Our Twenty-First President: Our Twenty-First President (Our Presidents)

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Chester A. Arthur, Our Twenty-First President: Our Twenty-First President (Our Presidents)
Carol Brunelli
Manufacturer: Child's World
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Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1567668585

Book Description

A thorough, illustrated biography discussing the president's childhood, his career, his family, and his term as President of the United States. Includes a time line and glossary.

Chester A. Arthur (Encyclopedia of Presidents. Second Series)

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Chester A. Arthur (Encyclopedia of Presidents. Second Series)
Dan Elish
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Politics of Oil (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
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Iraq War is Linked to Oil

Not a bad piece of work, if you're a college sophomore

Excellent overview and history

Overshadowed by political bias...

An excellent reader on a perplexing topic

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Politics of Oil (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
C. D. Jaco , Julianne Neiman , and Lita Epstein
Manufacturer: Alpha
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592571409
Release Date: 2003-11-04

Book Description

Oil makes the world go round. Follow the fascinating story-from the fields of Kuwait to the streets of Venezuela and beyond...

An analysis of the role that oil plays in the U.S. and how it has affected our foreign policy, this book traces the evolution of the industry, including such defining moments as the invention of the automobile and the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia. Discussing politics, economics, and science, this book offers comprehensive, up-to-date information on the substance that was left to us by the dinosaurs-and that drives our industrialized world.

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Iraq War is Linked to Oil.......2007-09-16

Some of the critics of this book blast because it links wars to the struggle for continuing supplies of oil. Finally someone from the Bush administration agrees. Here's quotes from Alan Greenspan's new book, "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World:"

"Whatever their publicized angst over Saddam Hussein's 'weapons of mass destruction,' American and British authorities were also concerned about violence in an area that harbors a resource indispensable for the functioning of the world economy," Greenspan wrote.

"I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil," added Greenspan, who for decades had been one of the most respected U.S. voices on fiscal policies.

Not a bad piece of work, if you're a college sophomore.......2006-03-09

The book began with petroleum facts and figures, which were informative enough (but which can be easily obtained for free online), but then morphed into a populist op-ed piece, a series of insinuations based on anecdotes and contextually questionable quotes. Clearly, the authors spent a lot of time looking for quotes and figures which backed their preconceived political point of view.

If you are a left wing ideologue, or a believer in conspiracy theories, you'll love the book. But then again, you won't need to buy it because you'll already believe everything the authors say.

If you're a hard right winger, you'll be flummoxed and probably toss it after you finish the statistics.

If on the other hand, you prefer to think critically and are willing to try and understand complex issues (including perhaps even more than a single perspective!), you'll probably dismiss this as lightweight ideology from folks who really, really want to believe that oil companies are all intrinsicaly evil.

For example, the authors strongly imply, and steer the reader towards believing, that the Afghan war was all about a pipeline. Really? Show me some analysis. How much oil or gas revenues will the pipeline generate? How much net profit? How much of that then goes to the IRS? Then consider what the cost of the war has been. Does the assertion make any economic sense? It does not. If you then believe, as the authors must, that the US government is sufficiently immoral so as to cause at least some Americans and innocents to die because of a pipeline, then why didn't the wicked US oil barons instead just say "Kuwait caused 9/11" send in the troops, and take tiny Kuwait and its oil fields (immensely more profitable and less risky than a single Afghan pipeline) for a fraction of the time and cost of the Afghanistan war? Or better still, why not just embezzle a few billion off the US budget, hand it out to your Big Oil pals, and forget about war altogether? And why did the UN support the Afghan war, and many countries send troops in? Because Bush and/or the oil companies hoodwinked the entire world? Or were all these countries participating in the pipeline conspiracy too? But then the cut to the IRS starts getting smaller. All decent questions that the authors might have addressed, but they were silent on the implications of their conspiracy theories. They clearly did not wish to reseach alternative explanations.

Or, if you believe the old populist saw that refineries are intentionally shut down to drive up prices, then you have to believe that whatever the refineries might then make from higher profits will more than offset days or weeks of zero daily revenue. And you also need an explanation for falling prices. From 1984 to recent years, oil prices, gasoline prices, and oil share prices languished; many oil companies went bankrupt, hundreds of thousands of employees lost their jobs. Do the authors believe that the evil CEO's took a 20 year break from bad deeds, and sacrificed company performance so the US could enjoy cheaper fuels? Yet the authors' conspiracy theories offer no support for mechanisms behind falling price environments. Presumably they think that the market can drive down the price of gasoline, but if the price goes up, there must be evil afoot. They don't seem to understand the nature of commodities.

Perhaps there is more going on in the oil industry than meets the eye, but the authors of this book have very little grasp on the realities of the business, and in the end their one-sided collection of speculations caused me to dismiss their credibility. It's a shame that uninformed readers take this for a reference work. If you really do want to learn how the industry works, you can do much better than this.

Excellent overview and history.......2005-09-17

I'm just a few chapters into this book, but I was enjoying it enough so that I wanted to make a brief comment. I'll probably write a more thorough review later.

This book presents the history of oil, and how it came to dominate the politics and policy of the entire world in just the last century. There is some interesting history in that the authors discuss how the oil industry actually originated in Romania. By the time of the first oil well in the U.S. in 1859, Romania was already mining 1000 metric tons of oil per year by means of open pit mines, since this was before effective drilling began.

Until then mostly all there was was oil seeps with oil coming up from the ground, and the occasional farmer using the gloppy stuff to lubricate an axel or two, and it was used in patent medicines. But there was no real industrial or widespread use even in heating or lighting, with whale oil being the main product there. Then because of some strange coincidences involving several people who were brought together, the first American oil well was sunk, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I notice one person here panned the book because of its perceived liberal bias, but it's really only a slight liberal bias in that sense. And the authors do mention that the evidence about Bush's "secret oil report" that supposedly influenced the discussion to invade Iraq that's discussed was only reported by a European newspaper. They don't claim it's actual fact.

But anyone who believes that the U.S.'s need for oil at least to some extent drives political policy is living in a very naive, political cloud-cuckoo land.

So overall, a good book on the subject and one that I learned a good deal from.

Overshadowed by political bias..........2004-10-26

The first half of the book was great, very informative and written fairly and accurately. But as soon as the subject turned to modern day political issues, the overwhelming prejudice of the blatantly liberal authors began to shine through. It would have been such a great book if it could have presented non-partisan views on the politics of oil, but instead the authors couldn't resist pushing their anti-Bush agenda for the entire second half of the book.

Their arguments were totally one-sided and they conveniently omitted many important facts and arguments about the reasons for the current administrations' energy policies. I was very disappointed in that aspect of the book; and although the rest of the material was well presented, it was hard to not question the motives behind each explanation and wonder what else they weren't telling me.

An excellent reader on a perplexing topic.......2003-12-03

This book serves as an excellent guide to understanding the source for a host of national and international conflicts. The organization of the text is exceptionally useful, allowing you to breeze over parts that you may not be interested in (for me, this was the scientific aspect of oil development) and quickly understand the more engaging material (such as international relations and energy politics). An excellent basic guide that should be a must for all high school and college students interested in political science. It doesn't get a five stars from me because, at times, the material is almost too basic, but that's what this book series is all about. Excellent for a comprehensive review that covers the bredth, not necessarilly the depth, of the topic.

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Still the defining word on wetlands.......2001-03-23

As one of the authors of this book I would highly recommend it to anyone involved in Land Use decisions or Environmental Protection. The committee that authored this work travelled all over the United States and met with many of the leaders in the field of wetlands. We also agonized over language in numerous committee meetings. This book truly represents some of the best overview data on wetlands and should remain an important scientific work for many years to come.

Worth the price of purchase just to get the "real" definition of wetlands.

I have the utmost respect for all of my peers that also served on this committee and were co-authors of this important work and I hope to see their reviews here too.

Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries
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Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries
National Research Council
Manufacturer: National Academy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5P7BE

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