The Arthur Cabinet | ||
---|---|---|
Office | Name | Term |
President | Chester A. Arthur | 1881–85 |
Vice President | None | 1881–85 |
Secretary of State | James G. Blaine | 1881 |
Frederick T. Frelinghuysen | 1881–85 | |
Secretary of Treasury | William Windom | 1881 |
Charles J. Folger | 1881–84 | |
Walter Q. Gresham | 1884 | |
Hugh McCulloch | 1884–85 | |
Secretary of War | Robert T. Lincoln | 1881–85 |
Attorney General | Wayne MacVeagh | 1881 |
Benjamin H. Brewster | 1881–85 | |
Postmaster General | Thomas L. James | 1881 |
Timothy O. Howe | 1881–83 | |
Walter Q. Gresham | 1883–84 | |
Frank Hatton | 1884–85 | |
Secretary of the Navy | William H. Hunt | 1881–82 |
William E. Chandler | 1882–85 | |
Secretary of the Interior | Samuel J. Kirkwood | 1881–82 |
Henry M. Teller | 1882–85 |
The presidency of Chester A. Arthur began on September 19, 1881, when he became the 21st President of the United States upon the assassination and death of President James A. Garfield, and ended on March 4, 1885. He had been Vice President of the United States for only 199 days when he succeeded to the presidency. Chester Arthur was a New York Republican associated with the Stalwart faction of his party. In ill health and lacking the full support of his party by the end of his term, Arthur made only a token effort for the Republican nomination in 1884. He was succeeded in office by Democrat Grover Cleveland.
At the outset of his presidency, Arthur struggled to overcome his reputation as a slick New York machine politician., He succeeded by embracing the cause of civil service reform. His advocacy for, and subsequent enforcement of, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was the centerpiece of his administration. Facing a budget surplus, he reduced tariffs, although he also vetoed the Rivers and Harbors Act, an act he felt would have appropriated federal funds in a manner he thought excessive. He proceeded to rebuild the United States Navy, and was heavily criticized for failing to alleviate the federal budget surplus, which had been accumulating since the end of the Civil War.