Chester Alan Arthur -- Zachary Karabell

from jerry-book

My thoughts were Arthur except for the Pendleton Act did not accomplish much. His career before the White House involved amassing a good income and assets. He did not desire the presidency but performed honorably when it was thrust upon him. During this era Congress ruled and the executive could ...

from UberButter

Chester Alan Arthur by Zachary Karabell★★★President Chester Alan Arthur is one of those presidents that when mentioned in general public gets a "Who? He was a president?" Yeah, so they can't all do great, memorable things. Poor guy. And when seeing how small this biography is, it doesn't help his...

from cyderry

There are few books which tell of the life of the 21st President of the United States - possibly because he was controversial at the time, possibly because he wasn't elected but was thrust into the office by an assassin's bullet, possibly because he never wanted to be President. There are few det...

from everfresh1

I thought it was an excellent biography of this forgotten and reluctant president, considering the small format of this 'The American Presidents' series. Civil service reform will always be associated with Chester Arthur name. I thought that he played a major role in pushing Peddleton's act - whi...

from

It's difficult to believe that anybody could make Chet Arthur interesting, but Karabell succeeds in spades. And moreover, he makes a fairly sturdy case that he was the right man at the right time for the job. His approach is that, unlikely as it may seem, just as only Nixon could go to China, onl...