Dinner with Chester A. Arthur by Marcy

Dinner with Chester A. Arthur by Marcy - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

If I could have dinner with any president I would have dinner with the 21st president Chester A. Arthur. Arthur was one of the most beneficial presidents but yet one of the most “forgettable” presidents in U.S history, according to Time Magazine. This is mostly due to the fact that Arthur was never elected. Arthur actually took place in office after the previous president James Garfield was assassinated. Rumors surfaced that James Garfield’s assassin killed Garfield so that Arthur could take place as the president. Once these rumors were leaked many people in the U.S became very suspicious of Arthur’s eligibility of being the president. Arthur as president had a lot of pressure to prove to the whole entire country that he had the potential to become a worthy leader for the U.S. Unlike other presidents, Arthur had the whole country against him going in, and in order to win the country over he needed to work exceedingly hard to even be taken seriously. Arthur not only had to deal with the country being against him but he also had a lot of struggles in his personal life. Arthur had his wife die before becoming president and also lost his first son when he was only 3 years old. Arthur also was suffering with a kidney disease but wanted to keep his illness a secret because of the fact that he wanted to remain in office and and keep a clean reputation. Arthur always said that “I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business.” Arthur never made excuses for himself and kept the country in his number one priority. Through all of these struggles, Arthur managed to make beneficial decisions for the U.S by signing Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act on January 16, 1883. Rumors were going around that Post office officials were building a plan to steal large amounts of money from the U.S government. Arthur decided to attack this problem head on with signing the Pendleton Act which prevented this scam to happen which protected our economy. Arthur also helped our navy become more equipped and more qualified for battle.

I would love to have dinner with Chester A. Arthur because it would be so remarkable to be in the presence of a resilient leader. Arthur never let anything get in the way of his duties of becoming a qualified leader. Arthur never brought his personal life to work and kept his workplace a professional place for the benefit of the country. It’s evident that Arthur proved many people wrong, and that he worked hard to prove to those who never believed that he was worthy of his presidential position. Arthur didn’t have a strong support system in office because there was no vice president in office when he was even president. Arthur had to become strong and believe in himself when no one truly did, which is very inspirational to myself due to the fact that I don’t have a strong support system other than the support system I posses for myself. I feel as though it’s important to believe in yourself even when it feels like the whole world is against you, similar to how Arthur felt. Arthur is a very relatable president to me and I feel as though we share similar characteristics of the drive needed for success. It’s a shame that Arthur isn’t very memorable because he really did so much for our country. To have dinner with someone who overcame their obstacles and made a name for themselves would be such an amazing experience and would be a honor.