If you judged Chester A. Arthur by his wardrobe alone, you might not peg him as presidential material. The man reportedly owned 80 pairs of trousers and 80 pairs of shoes, changed outfits multiple times a day to suit the occasion, and once refused to move into the White House until it had been completely redecorated. And yet, “Elegant Arthur” — the 21st President of the United States — turned out to be one of the more surprising reform-minded leaders in American history. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning.
From Vermont Parsonage to New York Courtroom
Chester Alan Arthur was born on October 5, 1829, in Fairfield, Vermont, the son of a Baptist preacher who had emigrated from northern Ireland. It was a modest upbringing, but Arthur proved to be an able student. He graduated from Union College in 1848, spent time teaching school, studied law, and eventually made his way to New York City to practice. As a young attorney, he took on cases that actually mattered — including two significant civil rights cases, one of which helped desegregate New York City’s streetcars. It’s an early chapter of his biography that often gets overshadowed by the fancier stuff that came later.
When the Civil War broke out, Arthur stepped into a role that would prove formative: by 1861, he had been promoted to Quartermaster General of New York, managing the enormous logistical challenge of equipping and supplying the state’s troops. It was exactly the kind of bureaucratic, detail-oriented work at which he excelled.
The Port of New York and the Art of Living Well
In 1871, Arthur was named Collector of the Port of New York — and if that sounds like a dry administrative post, consider what it actually meant. He supervised nearly 1,300 agents responsible for collecting roughly 75 percent of the nation’s import duties. The agency operated under a system called moiety, which allowed officials to pocket a percentage of fines and seized goods from smuggling cases they cracked. For Arthur, this translated to an extra $40,000 a year on top of his salary, making him a genuinely wealthy man.
The money showed. Arthur developed a deep appreciation for fine wines, gourmet food, tailored clothing, and leisurely evenings. His wardrobe — those legendary 80 pairs of trousers and 80 pairs of shoes — was anchored by frock coats, silk scarves, and high hats. He was known around town as a “gentleman boss,” a man who wielded political influence with polish and charm rather than rough-edged machine tactics. The nickname “Elegant Arthur” followed him naturally.
A Ticket to the Vice Presidency
By 1880, Arthur’s profile in Republican politics was substantial enough that he was nominated for the vice presidency at the Republican National Convention, running alongside presidential nominee James Garfield. They won. The two men took office in March 1881 — and then, just four months later, Garfield was shot by an assassin. He lingered for eleven weeks before dying from his wounds, and Chester Arthur, the dapper former Collector of the Port of New York, became President of the United States.
It was only the second time in American history that three men had served as president in a single calendar year. The first had been 1841, when Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler each held the office.
Redecorating the People’s House
True to form, Arthur’s first major act as president was aesthetic. He refused to move into the White House until it had been thoroughly renovated — and he wasn’t wrong that it needed work. The New York Times had described the building as “dingy” and a “permanent cesspool.” Arthur commissioned a top-to-bottom overhaul, hiring none other than Louis Comfort Tiffany to handle the redesign.
To clear space and fund the project, Arthur held a public auction of accumulated White House furniture and miscellaneous items — wagon-loads of it, sold off to the highest bidders. The administration ultimately spent over $30,000 (roughly $2 million today) on the renovation, with the bulk going toward stained glass, lighting fixtures, mantels, mirrors, paintings, and a dramatic opalescent floor-to-ceiling glass screen in the Entrance Hall. Arthur also upgraded the plumbing and installed an elevator that saw frequent use.
The Unlikely Reformer
Here’s where Arthur’s story takes its most interesting turn. The man who had personally benefited from the patronage-soaked spoils system — who had run one of its most lucrative outposts — became, as president, one of its most effective opponents. Arthur championed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883, which established merit-based hiring for federal employees and fundamentally changed how the government staffed itself. It was a genuine act of political courage, and it surprised nearly everyone who thought they knew him.
He also initiated the modernization of the U.S. Navy, pushing the transition from wooden ships to steel — a move that would define American naval power for decades to come. Throughout his presidency, Arthur was noted for his independence, his honesty, and his refusal to simply play factional politics.
He did not seek reelection. By that point, he had been diagnosed with a terminal kidney disease, and he quietly stepped aside rather than campaign for a second term. He died in November 1886, just one year and eight months after leaving office — one of the shortest post-presidencies on record. To this day, he remains the most recent president never to have contested a general election as his party’s nominee.
Chester Arthur arrived at the presidency through a side door, with no mandate and plenty of skeptics. What he did with the job was considerably more than anyone expected.