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American history, biographies, book reviews, Chester Arthur, presidential biographies, Presidents, Thomas Reeves, Zachary Karabell
For an obscure and mostly forgotten former president, Chester Arthur’s story is remarkably interesting.
Don’t get me wrong – PBS is unlikely to ever produce a docudrama on the Arthur presidency. And the ten or so minutes he received in the History Channel’s DVD series “The Presidents” may be all the Big Media attention he ever receives.
But there is something enchanting about one of the Gilded Age’s most infamous spoilsmen becoming one of the period’s most honorable and decent presidents.
Chester Arthur is an even more sympathetic figure when you realize how desperately he wanted to avoid becoming President of the United States. More than anyone – other than President Garfield’s wife – Vice President Chester Arthur fervently hoped Garfield would survive the attempt on his life.
Prior to being nominated for the vice presidency Arthur had never even been elected his town’s dog-catcher. Instead, he climbed briskly up the patronage ladder on the coattails of influential friends, finding himself in the nation’s top public post without ever pandering for a vote.
Although he tolerated the notion of being vice president, finding himself at risk of becoming the nation’s chief executive was something he was extremely unexcited about. And yet, following Garfield’s death, Arthur became known as a surprisingly respectable and honest president.
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* Thomas Reeves’s “Gentleman Boss: The Life and Times of Chester Alan Arthur” was the first of two biographies of Arthur I read. Published in 1975, this is undoubtedly the definitive biography of Chester Arthur – and I don’t imagine it will ever be replaced as such.
Despite the fact that Arthur ordered the destruction of most of his personal papers just prior to his death, Reeves produced a remarkably thorough accounting of Arthur’s life. And while a biography of an obscure president based on exhaustive research could easily be tedious and dull, “Gentleman Boss” is often fascinating and downright…interesting.
From time to time there are chunks of the biography which prove too detailed, too dry or too tangential for my interest. But on balance this is an excellent biography of Chester Arthur – and the Gilded Age generally – and is well worth reading. (See review here)
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* Zachary Karabell’s 2004 biography “Chester Alan Arthur” was the last biography of this president I read. As member of The American Presidents Series, Karabell’s biography is just one-third the length of Reeves’s but only slightly less potent.
Missing in this brisk tour through Arthur’s life is a more complete discussion of his evolution from one of the nation’s preeminent patronage parasites to a universally admired president. But nearly every important theme about Arthur’s life receives appropriate mention. And even some of the more trivial, but flavorful, nuances of his personality found their way into the book.
By design, Karabell’s biography passes by much of the colorful granularity in Arthur’s personality and character that was captured by Reeves’s biography. But overall it proves an excellent abbreviated biography of a president most Americans know very little about. For anyone unwilling to invest the time to read Reeves’s 424-page biography, Karabell offers a compelling 143-page alternative. (See review here)
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Best Biography of Chester Arthur: Thomas Reeves’s “Gentleman Boss“
My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies 
Thank you. I’m so embarrassed that I had never even heard of Chester Arthur until your post.
From what I can tell you’re in very good company!
Here I am again! I received a complimentary copy of an Arthur bio with the expectation of a review (linked below).
Although I read him out of chronological order, I really enjoyed this quick read that crams a ton of information in, mostly relating to his “machine” politics and the criticism he took as a result.
Thanks – this is definitely a book I need to read as part of my follow-up list!
This book just came up as an e-book bargain on Book Bub that I will purchase. Thought I’d check here to see a review, if any. Has anyone read it yet?
I read it last fall. It is a good introduction to the life and times of Chester Arthur. Another 40 to 50 pages on his presidency would have gone a long way toward making it a much better book. Weaving the Julia Sand letters into the narrative provided a great story line. The letters, as quoted, read like Arthur’s conscience.
Thomas Reeves’s GENTLEMAN BOSS is still the definitive bio.
I understand what you mean about it being dry at times, but I found it vastly more interesting than Niven’s Van Buren.
On a side note, I have enjoyed two other “biographies” of sorts–albeit of inanimate objects–David McCullough’s The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and I am currently reading a book called Washington’s Monument by John Steele Gordon. Both of these American landmarks were completed–FINALLY–during Arthur’s short term, and he attended their openings.
(I was referring to Reeves’s bio.)
If you like The Great Bridge, you should try Mr. McCullough’s The Path Between the Seas (Panama Canal).
Surprisingly, I had not heard of this one! Thanks! Yet another American landmark that was an extremely long time coming.
At some point (hopefully not too far off) I plan to read *everything* written by David McCullough, Ron Remini and Ron Chernow. There are probably others as well, but those top my list once I get away from biographies.
I have to confess that I’m a bit of a Chet-phile I’ve read Gentleman Boss by Reeves (slow and arduous at times, but thorough) and am currently reading the relatively new Unexpected President by Greenberger (almost novel-like). I have not read C.A.A by Karabell yet. I’ve even been to his grave in Albany, NY. https://youtu.be/nEtAd4FNL7w I agree with you that he is a very interesting figure.
I am a little late to the party – I only recently discovered your great website, after you had already finished your first pass through the presidents. I’ve been reading presidential biographies for about 20 years now, in no particular order, just whatever looks good and whatever I can get my hands on. Already I’ve acquired many more books I didn’t know existed after reading about them on your site!
Anyway, as for Chester Arthur: I found Greenberger’s “The Unexpected President” to be a huge disappointment, because it’s filled with blatant plagiarisms of Reeves’ book – entire sentences and paragraphs lifted nearly word for word. It’s really shocking if you read the books side by side. I was appalled enough to fire off my first-ever Amazon review, though I doubt anyone will care much since the book is already two years old and the author has likely long since moved on to some other project.
I’m curious to see John Pafford’s take on Chester Arthur when his book comes out next month, but I see some of his previous efforts haven’t gotten the greatest reviews.
I visit your site often – I wish I could have followed your journey from the start, but as it is, you’ve created a tremendous resource here for those who are seeking out great presidential bios now and in the future!
Just finished “Gentleman Boss” — man, that was a slog. Toward the end I was giving myself little rewards for every five pages I read. So many things I didn’t want to know about the Stalwart machine, tariffs, foreign policy, etc. And the way Reeves organized the book — by topic, rather than chronologically — was so confusing. I was constantly trying to figure out what year things were happening and whether something discussed in a previous chapter had happened yet.
But now I’m really curious about Chester Arthur! I want to know more, and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to go to find out more (the reviews of the Pafford book are dreadful and the Greenberger book doesn’t sound that great either). I wish PBS *would* do a docudrama on him. Or maybe Candice Millard would like to pick up where she left off with Garfield. I really feel as though there’s more to this story.