21   Chester A. Arthur  1881 – 1885
“I may be president of the United States,
but my private life is nobody’s damned business.”
Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur assumed the Presidency after the assassination of President Garfield. Although Garfield was mortally wounded by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, he did not die until September 19 of that year, at which time Arthur was sworn in as president, serving until March 4, 1885.
President Arthur was a champion of civil service reform. Public pressure, heightened by the assassination of Garfield, forced an unwieldy Congress to heed the President. Arthur's primary achievement was the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. The passage of this legislation earned Arthur the moniker “The Father of Civil Service” and a favorable reputation among historians.
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