Review: The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur

The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur by Scott S. Greenberger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All in all a very good book about a not very good person (turned better later on).

Having been brought up by an ardent abolitionist, and then having left the fold for the more profit-seeking clique of stalwarts and politicians who took "voluntary" payments from employees and bestowed offices as favors, he found himself pretty much by accident as a vice president. And then Garfield was shot by a lunatic, and he found himself president. But at that point he changed, left his crony friends behind and enacted reform to make political positions more merit-based, etc.

Aside from that turn-about, there isn't much that is fascinating about this man's life. In fact, the book talks at great length about other big names of the era, namely Roscoe Conkling, President Grant and President Garfield. It takes 2/3 of the book for Arthur to even become president.

I found the most intriguing bit to be the part about Julia Sand. I think every president could use someone like her.

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Review: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book was an extremely interesting look at an extremely interesting man, shot in his prime, before he could really accomplish anything, by a deranged psycho, and then actually murdered by his doctors (mainly one, Dr. Bliss), who made mistake after mistake when caring for him. It's infuriating to think of what could have been accomplished by this man had he been given the chance.

The section about him getting picked as a nominee at the convention was out of this world. So much so that I went to Wikipedia to make sure the author wasn't making it up. He went to the convention to help someone else get elected, refused to be nominated, and still ended up winning.

Before giving his inaugural address he read every single past inaugural address ever given.

After having been shot, while he was "recovering", it was an extremely hot summer in DC, and, since he couldn't leave his room, a new device was invented to keep his room cool, which turned out to be the first air conditioner.

After his death, his wife also opened what turned out to be the first presidential library.

I'm extremely glad I read this biography, and I hope to learn more about this president. At this point I'd say he's the most underestimated president thus far (in the chronology of presidents that I'm reading).


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