Chester Alan Arthur
The American Presidents
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Chester Alan Arthur
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Narrated by:
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Zachary Karabell
About this listen
Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880-despite his never having run for office before.
Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt "spoils system." To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come.
Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president—of whom so little was expected—rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House.
©2004 Zachary Karabell (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 205
Grover Cleveland’s political career—a dizzying journey that saw him rise from obscure lawyer to president of the United States in just three years—was marked by contradictions. A politician of uncharacteristic honesty and principle, he was nevertheless dogged by secrets from his personal life. A believer in limited government, he pushed presidential power to its limits to combat a crippling depression, suppress labor unrest, and resist the forces of American imperialism.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Worth the Wait!
- By Brian S Cunningham on 09-21-22
By: Troy Senik
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Grover Cleveland
- By: Henry F. Graff
- Narrated by: Ira Claffey
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 30
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 29
Though often overlooked, Grover Cleveland was a significant figure in American presidential history. Having run for President three times and gaining the popular vote majority each time, Cleveland was unique in the line of nineteenth-century Chief Executives. Presidential historian Henry F. Graff revives Cleveland's fame, explaining how he fought to restore stature to the office in the wake of several weak administrations.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Unexceptional Book about unexceptional President
- By jake_gibbs on 07-06-22
By: Henry F. Graff
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Destiny of the Republic
- A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
- By: Candice Millard
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,563
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,669
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,644
James A. Garfield may have been the most extraordinary man ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back. But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what happened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in turmoil.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Marvelous, Magnificent, Millard
- By Mel on 02-08-12
By: Candice Millard