The story of Chester A. Arthur’s life and presidency is undoubtedly an unsung one. He makes an intriguing subject, not only because he was President, but because he seemingly wanted to deny historians the ability to unravel the truth about his political rise by destroying his papers before his death. Thus, he will likely always be a figure of mystery and unanswerable questions.
Despite this disadvantage, the author does a skillful job of capturing Arthur’s personality and the cast of characters that surrounded him during the era. I chose this book having just listened to ‘Destiny of the Republic,’ which dealt with President Garfield’s assassination in detail. ‘The Unexpected President’ is a great companion piece to that work, offering greater context to factional differences within the Republican Party at the time.
Having known little about Arthur before now, I found the book very engaging and came away with an appreciation for the man and the unique challenge he faced. His life is certainly derseving of a work of this caliber and the tale of political redemption upon Arthur assuming the sacred trust of the presidency is refreshingly optimistic.