6 Quotes & Sayings By Chester A Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur, born in Fairfield, Gt. Vermont, was the 23rd president of the United States (1881–1885). He served the shortest term in American history. Arthur's father, Colonel William Smith Arthur, served in the U.S Read more

Army during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His mother, Elizabeth Kortright, was born in 1796 and died in 1871. The Army sent her to live with her father in Vermont while they arranged for her to marry Arthur's father.

Chester was born on October 5, 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont. He became an orphan at age seven when his mother died of pneumonia. At age 12 he left school to work in a store owned by his paternal grandfather.

At age 15 he ran away from home with an older brother to seek his fortune as a gold miner in California, but they were turned away by the local sheriff. After several years spent washing dishes in San Francisco restaurants and working on whaling ships in Alaska, Arthur went back to San Francisco where his brother had established a printing business which employed him for several years before he went back to New York City to study law at Columbia University (1851–54). In 1854 he returned to San Francisco and was admitted to the bar.

He married Ellen Herndon on January 26, 1855 without a prenuptial agreement and they moved to Paris where he continued his law practice until his election as Governor of New York (1874).

1
I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business. Chester A. Arthur
2
The health of the people is of supreme importance. All measures looking to their protection against the spread of contagious diseases and to the increase of our sanitary knowledge for such purposes deserve attention of Congress. Chester A. Arthur
3
As is natural with contiguous states having like institutions and like aims of advancement and development, the friendship of the United States and Mexico has been constantly maintained. Chester A. Arthur
4
The extravagant expenditure of public money is an evil not to be measured by the value of that money to the people who are taxed for it. Chester A. Arthur
5
Men may die, but the fabrics of free institutions remains unshaken. Chester A. Arthur