The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur

by Scott S. Greenberger

reviewed November 2018

Of all the biographies of the U.S. Presidents that I have read (so far I’ve read about 40 bios of about 35 presidents), this one was the most surprising in terms of enjoyment. Let’s face it, many of the ‘minor’ presidents were minor for a reason. Perhaps they just weren’t that exciting, nor did anything spectacular happen during their tenure. History has even showed us that the really bad ones (i.e. James Buchanan) get away with being anonymous many years in the future after the memory of their deeds fades away. We then add the fact that most of the personal letters and records about Chester Arthur were burned by himself and relatives, meaning there’s even less to know about him. And, yes, he was an accidental president in that he was elected Vice-President, but ascended to the top role after his ticket-mate, James Garfield was assassinated. He also only served the remainder of the one term.

What author Scott S. Greenberger does in a case where his subject matter is a bit threadbare is to, instead, tell a story of the times and places where Chester Arthur lived and breathed. There are many times when you forget you’re reading a biography of Chester Arthur because the narrative strays quite far, yet you never mind because Greenberger is a magnificent story teller. In fact, I would argue that this is a practice that many biographers should try to attempt. It’s o.k. to focus on the facts, but have a little feeling as well. Example: When we’re introduced to Arthur’s father-in-law, we’re told his occupation is the captain of a ship. The man met his demise when his vessel sunk. Does Greenberger just mention this in passing? Oh no. We get a heavily detailed telling of the account filled with emotion and sadness. I felt like I was watching the last 30 minutes of the movie ‘Titanic’ as opposed to reading a biography of a 19th century president. A distraction? Sure. Bothersome? Not in the least.

As Chester Arthur moves up in the business world during and immediately after the Civil War, he’s no saint. He’s arguably a conniving profiteer who surrounds himself with riches and pleasures of the flesh that he obtains with little scruples. He ends up as the manager of the New York City Customs House where he’s able to solicit bribes and political favors. The ‘boss’ of the New York City political machine is a man named Roscoe Conkling. Conkling is the sleaziest of the sleaze, and anyone that wants any position of political power needs to make sure they have a heavy dose of grease when meeting this man with a handshake. Although one could argue that things haven’t really changed in 140 years, this behavior was much more the norm during this time, and such immorality could go unchecked for a much longer period.

In fact, it seems we read about Roscoe Conkling just as much, if not more, than Chester Arthur. Again, though, you don’t mind since the book is so captivating. When it’s time to nominate a Republican candidate for president in 1880, James Garfield is mainly chosen out of compromise. No one really knows much about him, but those in power can’t seem to find an agreeable alternative. Garfield isn’t part of the Conkling power machine, so Chester Arthur is added to the ticket as Vice-President as a compromise. This decision isn’t given much thought. I mean, what are the odds of anything tragic happening to a sitting president?

Well……

Without going into too much detail, when Arthur ascends to the top position after an assassin’s bullet, Conkling and his cronies are salivating. They’ve now finally gotten THEIR MAN in the White House. Except Arthur suddenly has a change of heart. What happens to his soul isn’t quite clear, but fortunately, his morality meter sways in the opposite direction, and ends up being a much better president for the nation than most had hoped.

Again, not too much detail into the minutiae of the administration. In fact, of all the biographies I’ve read on U.S. Presidents, this one spends the least amount of time on policy and the inner workings of government. True, a more detailed account would have pleased historians, but with the limited amount of facts we have about this man, the author manages to weave a great retrospective.

The fact that most people are unfamiliar with this man and the times, leads me to believe that this would make an excellent mini-series to be shown on Amazon Prime or Netflix. Filmmakers take note. As the title suggests, Arthur was an ‘unexpected’ president all right, but fortunately, the book was also an ‘unexpected’ joy to read as well. In a big big way.

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