The Unexpected President, Scott S. Greenberger
The Unexpected President, Scott S. Greenberger
2 Rating(s)
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
Club: $8.99

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

Author: Scott S. Greenberger

Narrator: Paul Heitsch

Unabridged: 11 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/06/2018


Synopsis

Despite his promising start as a young man, by his early fifties Chester A. Arthur was known as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. For years Arthur had been perceived as unfit to govern, not only by critics and the vast majority of his fellow citizens but by his own conscience. As President James A. Garfield struggled for his life, Arthur knew better than his detractors that he failed to meet the high standard a president must uphold.

And yet, from the moment President Arthur took office, he proved to be not just honest but brave, going up against the very forces that had controlled him for decades. He surprised everyone—and gained many enemies—when he swept house and took on corruption, civil rights for blacks, and issues of land for Native Americans.

A mysterious young woman deserves much of the credit for Arthur's remarkable transformation. Julia Sand, a bedridden New Yorker, wrote Arthur nearly two dozen letters urging him to put country over party, to find "the spark of true nobility" that lay within him. At a time when women were barred from political life, Sand's letters inspired Arthur to transcend his checkered past—and changed the course of American history.

About Scott S. Greenberger

Scott S. Greenberger is coauthor, with former Senator Tom Daschle and Jeanne Lambrew, of the New York Times bestseller Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis. Greenberger is currently the executive editor of Stateline, a news website funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts that covers state politics and policy for dozens of U.S. newspapers. He was a newspaper reporter for twelve years, first at the Austin American-Statesman and then at the Boston Globe, and has also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, GQ, Glamour, Washington Monthly, Moment magazine, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jean on July 30, 2018

The presidents that served after the Civil War seem to have been forgotten. Therefore, I enjoyed Greenberger’s new biography of Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886). Arthur was an attorney who was part of Roscoe Conkling’s political machine in New York. Arthur became the vice president for James A. Garfiel......more

Goodreads review by Tim on March 10, 2024

I was nearing the end of this book when I read Bill’s review, which makes a good argument that Greenberger plagiarized Thomas C. Reeves’ 1975 book, Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur. I won’t say anything more about that, as I don’t feel skilled enough to evaluate these claims, but I wo......more

Goodreads review by Grumpus on December 09, 2019

The grumpus23(23-word commentary) Chester was part of the NY machine. The country feared patronage would be rampant under his unexpected administration but bad boy makes good.......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie on October 27, 2020

"When James A. Garfield was yesterday reported as lying at the point of death new bitterness was added to the poignancy of public grief by the thought that Chester A. Arthur would be his successor," it read. "Gen. Arthur is about the last man who would be considered eligible to that position, did th......more