Hi everybody, today my mommy is going to talk about Chester A. Arthur.

Thank you, Noah, for introducing Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States.

Chester A. Arthur's interest in politics started at a very young age. At the age of 15, he worked as a crier.

Are you wondering what a crier was? It was a child who would stand on street corners, shouting the names of politicians and all of their achievements.

As a crier, Chester A. Arthur was promoting a Whig presidential

candidate named Henry Clay. At this time in 1844, the Republican Party that would eventually

nominate Chester A. Arthur had not even existed.

Chester A. Arthur stood firmly against slavery. As a result, he joined the new Republican Party

and helped establish Republican roots in New York. Arthur was fortunate to have friends who would assign him to important and high-paying

jobs. In 1860, the Republican governor of New York appointed him chief of the state military.

In 1863, he was removed from the same position when a Democrat became New York's governor.

Arthur didn't stay down for long. Arthur went to work trying to get Republican candidates elected

in New York and elsewhere. He helped get Ulysses S. Grant elected and was rewarded with the job of collector of the New York Customs House.

In this new role, he managed over 1,000 workers and was responsible for collecting about two-thirds of all taxes on imports.

This job made him very wealthy with an annual salary of $50,000, which was a

tremendous amount at the time. Throughout his career, Arthur benefited from friends who would give

him unique opportunities. Unfortunately for him, President Grant's presidency was tarnished by scandal,

due in large part to the friends he had surrounded himself with. The next president,

Rutherford B. Hayes, was determined to end the corrupt patronage system that hurt Grant

and fired Chester A. Arthur from his high-paying job.

Heading into the election of 1880, the Republican Party was split.

One half of the party, called the stalwartes, wanted to continue the practice of patronage

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