Dates in Office: 1881-1885
Important Information:
- Prior to being elected President, Arthur served as quartermaster general in the Union Army during the Civil War.
- He won the Republican nomination in 1880 as was elected as Vice President.
- He succeed James Garfield after his assassination.
- Arthur embraced civil service reform.
- He was credited for the rebirth of the U.S. Navy but criticized for failing to fix the federal budget surplus which had been accumulating since the Civil War.
- The centerpiece of his administration was the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.
- Arthur was praised for his veto of the Rivers and Harbors Act
- Due to poor health, Arthur did little to secure his reelection as President.