Richard Lummis and Tom Fox continue our series of exploring leadership through the study of US Presidents. This episode begins a short series on Gilded Age Presidents, now largely forgotten. In this episode, we take up Chester A. Arthur. Some of the highlights include:
- Educational and Professional Background of Chester A. Arthur.
- His time as a New York politician, including work in the Conkling Political Machine and as Head of Customs House and conflict with President Hays.
- His Stalwart Candidacy as Vice President.
- His election and short tenure as VP.
- Leadership issues from his Presidency, including the confusion on how to take office, his enactment of Civil Service reform, his work on the surplus budget and the tariff, immigration issues, and Civil Rights in the South.Leadership Issues, including (a) What are your expectations? (b) How much does a leader’s health matter? (c) Arthur adopted a code for his political behavior but was subjected to three restraints: he remained to everyone a man of his word; he kept scrupulously free from corrupt graft; he maintained a personal dignity, affable and genial though he might be.
