His father was a rigid evolutionist preacher. Abolitionist preacher. He grew up in a very religious environment. Shortly after college, he was a teacher and became a lawyer. He was involved in a very important case, the decentralization of new york city streetcars. Desegregation of new york city streetcars. Theas a quartermaster in union army during the civil war in new york city. A opportunities for learning his own pockets, which he did not do as many others did. That he became involved in the machine politics of that era. In particular, he became very close to the flamboyant new york boss. He is an extremely interesting character. Brian the years he served as president . Scott he served as president from 1881, when garfield was shot and eventually died, until the end of his term in 1885. Brian who was president before and after him . Scott garfield before. Grover cleveland was president after. Brian why did you want to write a book about Chester A Arthur . Scott every president has an interesting story. I think that Chester Arthur, he is one of the most obscure president s. There is some sort of pull they take of College Students and give them a list of names and ask them which is president. He pretty much consistently ranks as a lesserknown president. The thing most people remember about him is his distinct sideburns, mutton chops. Think it iss i interesting to focus on. It is the first gilded age. Beginning with reconstruction leading up to Teddy Roosevelt and the progressives. It is a time a lot of people in americanhrift to history in school. We studied the civil war, reconstruction, then a quick fastforward to Teddy Roosevelt and world war i. This is a time when a lot of what we think of as modern world, modern america, really starts to take shape. Era in which americans for the first time millionaire. The country was formed from an agrarian country to an industrial country with large corporations that were beginning to exert power. Brian i am going to jump to page of your book to fill in the blanks. On august 10, roscoes long affair with kate sprague finally came to a head when her husband, senator William Sprague returned home from a business trip to discover that kate had been hosting. Scoe conkling what was that about. Scott Roscoe Conkling attracted a lot of female attention. Every time he spoke on before of on the floor of the senate, the gallery was filled with ladies. His wife preferred to stay home and did a lot of gardening and charity work. He was free to roam in washington. And he did. Sprague was the belle of washington. The two of them were an item. The worstkept secret in washington. Senator, iusband, a had finally had enough. Conkling was also a senator. Brian kate was the daughter of the former secretary of the treasury . Scott right. Chase sprague had become a widower when kate was a teenager. She had helped him when he was governor. She was a valuable advisor to conkling. They had a political connection as he kind of rose through the ranks. Brian reading more from your book. In 30 seconds, he would blow his brains out. Scott conkling was incredibly arrogant. Very confident in himself. Very physically imposing and handsome. A very effective speaker. He rose quickly through the ranks in the senate and did not defer to his seniors. As might have been expected. Withot even at the someone threatening them with bodily harm he was not the type to run away. Brian i have to do some more here speaking softly to sprague and an effort to calm him. This only enraged the rhode island are. Scott it is a great story. It was on the front page of many newspapers that summer. It even attracted the attention of the president of the time, president rutherford b. Hayes. He was not the type to gloat about othersmisfortunes but he definitely took satisfaction in conklings comeuppance. Brian where was Chester Arthur . Hen garfield was shot scott he was actually up in albany, trying to help conkling win back his senate seat. There was a fight. Rutherford b. Hayes was trying to institute reforms fighting back against machine politicians like conkling. When he insulted conkling by putting someone in the new york customhouse without consulting him, conkling and the other senator from new york resigned in protest, thinking that certainly the New York Legislature would very quickly restore him to his seat. This was before the direct election of senators, and that he wouldve made his point. But as it turns out, the legislature had had enough of conklings antics and it was a tougher job than he had anticipated. And Chester Arthur, who was james garfields Vice President , went to albany to help conkling get his seat back. This was in direct opposition to what garfield was trying to do, which was to institute reforms. Hayes also tried to do that. He was trying to take control of this massive patronage system. And so, it was widely noted that Chester A Arthur, although he was garfields Vice President , was in new york doing conklings bidding and therefore opposing garfield at the time when garfield was shot. The tension between these two between that was formed the republicans and the stalwart wing of the party was so great that when garfield was shot, there were many people who suspected that arthur and conkling at something to do with it. Brian what can you tell us about the man who shot james garfield, gateau . Scott he was probably mentally ill. Lifematter of fact, his story bears some resemblance to a lot of the other characters throughout American History who ended up doing the same kinds of things that he did. I think it is fair to say modern medicine today wouldve judged him to be mentally ill. However, the direct instigator of this act was the fact he thought he was owed and office for the work he had done for the garfieldarthur campaign in 1880 and when he was rejected, he decided the problem was garfield and that if he removed garfield then the split in the Republican Party are referred to would be amended and the republic would be saved. He was not thinking clearly, but the fact was it was noted that the immediate reason for his act and he stated as much, was that he had been denied an office he thought was his due and he wanted to heal be split in the Republican Party. At six andas shot pennsylvania or six and constitution . B stream, which i am natural fit even exist anymore. Street b street. Which im not sure if it even exists anymore. Brian in a train station. What happened to guiteau after he shot garfield . What happened to garfield . How much did garfield and arthur see each other before he died . Scott the whole reason that arthur ended up as Vice President was an effort by the republicans to placate conkling and make sure that new york would throw it support behind garfield. Arthur was an accidental Vice President , who had no relationship at all with garfield. It was at a time when Vice President s didnt have Close Relationships with president s. He was much closer to conkling than garfield. Immediately after the shooting took place, Police Seized guiteau. Guiteau said, i am a stalwart. And arthur will be president. That statement only added to the suspicion that arthur had something to do with the assassination. Brian stalwart. Who came up with the name stalwart . Scott it referred to the fact that when conklings wing of the party wanted former president to serve a third term, which would have been unprecedented, the republicans who stood together at the convention and stuck with grant became known as the stalwarts. Brian you had grant, hayes, garfield, arthur, cleveland, harrison, cleveland. Everybody talks about that time as a blur. I want to put on the screen a series of pictures to show the similarities. Here is james g. Blaine, and what he looked like back in the late 1800s. What was his role . Scott he was conklings rival. The same age, both fighting to be the leader of the Republican Party and the president. They had at very wellpublicized spat in congress over an army reauthorization bill. But blaine thought that conkling had insulted him and so he stood up and leveled an attack at conkling that was remembered for years afterwards. He referred to conklings turkey gobbler strut. Conkling never forgave him after that. Brian what offices did he have . Scott blaine was garfields secretary of state and had offices in the senate. That caused tension between the garfields reformer wing and the conklingarthur wing. Because when blaine was named secretary of state, it became clear where garfields loyalties were. Brian what are some other words it you have discovered, i know you said he did not like people. Scott i guess he was what we call a bit of a terminal file book. He did not like to be touched. He did not like smoke. People were often smoking. If people were smoking he would often just go over and throw open the window. He liked to cover the law books on his desk with paper so his opponents would not know the authority he was citing. When he was making a case, before the other side would make its case, he would just open a newspaper and start reading as if what he said was enough to sway the jury and there is not anything else enough important being said. One of his physical characteristics was that corolla in the middle of his forehead. He fluffed out the hair on either side of his head to emphasize it. Tell the story about how he died. Scott he died during the great snow storm that hit new york city and 1888. Most of the city was closed down but he was supposed to argue a case that day. The judge canceled the case. He stayed downtown to do some uptownd tried to walk because he did not want to pay the exorbitant fares of the taxi drivers given the weather. He thought he was going to die. At one point he was stuck in a snow drift and according 20 told the papers afterwards, almost gave up. He did soldier on. Made it to a shelter. And was apparently ok, but then soon after he got a cold or pneumonia, probably pneumonia and never fully recovered and died. Brian james garfield, president of the United States. What did you learn about him. They all look kind of a light because of the beard. What did you learn about him as a person . Scott he is a fascinating eager. Also served in the civil war. Selfmade almost lincoln type character and that regard. He grew up poor. He was very academically inclined. He ended up graduating from williams, i believe. He rose up pretty quickly through the ranks, i believe while he was still serving in the civil war he was elected to congress. Once he was in congress, and i quote people in my book, he managed to straddle both sides of the aisle. A formula for success at a time when there is a lot of corruption in congress. There was a little bit of a tapedof that to him a taint of that to him. He was very much of a choice in 1880 when there is a very genetic convention. He was the classic dark horse candidate when the convention was deadlocked and could not decide. They chose are filled as someone who would appeal to everybody and he did get the nomination and eventually one. Brian conkling, and new york. He was ohio, garfield. Scott thats right. And they needed conklings helped to win that election. Brian six months into his term . Scott less than that. Brian name were inaugurated in march. Scott right. Brian what was the feeling about garfield . Scott people, the reformers, thought he was on the right track. Certainly by taking on conkling and appointing someone to the house they considered to be clean. They thought that was a good sign. He was just Getting Started when he was shot. Brian you say at one point, when chester a. Arthur was the collector of the custom house he was making a Million Dollars in todays of money . Scott there was no income tax. 70 of the revenues came through that customhouse. Importers paid duties on goods. There was a system, under which the collector was assigned an incentive for officials to find malfeasance. If someone was found to be shirking their responsibilities in terms of paying duties, they had to pay a fine. The officers in the customhouse, including Chester Arthur, got a cut. At ulyssess look grant a twoterm president. Again, there was a beard. Did you do your research as to where the beard came from in those days . Scott i did not but it was a very popular fashion as it has also come back today and is. Brian what impact did he have on Chester A Arthur being Vice President and president . Scott he was appointed to the customhouse. He got arthur started. Grant, during his second term, he personally wasnt tied to any corrupt activities, many members of his administration up to level were. He was tainted by that in his second term. It cleared the way for rutherford b. Hayes. He was a reformer. People wanted something different. Grantism, asred of it was called. Brian how would you describe grant . Theres another biography coming out in november. Why do people write so much about him . Scott his service during the civil war he was a man who saved the union. Lincoln went through numerous generals before he landed on grant. He was a middling student at west point. Served in the mexicanamerican war. He failed in business after word. It looked like he was on the fast track to know where whitney civil war started when the civil war started. He distinguished himself in the war. And became the savior of the union. He was the great hero of the civil war. Brian why did conkling have so much clout with grant to get arthur appointed to be the collector in new york city . Scott well, conklin was the boss of the republican machine york. Civil war in new the most populous state. Yet tremendous political power. He pointed out to grant that if they had their admin in the customhouse it would be very valuable to them. They would control the patronage. There were hundreds of jobs that could be given out to Party Loyalists so it was very valuable for the Republican Party. Brian there is another you have talked about, resident president rutherford b. Hayes. And another man who looks like the rest. An ohioan. Grant and garfield were born in ohio. What was it about the state of ohio during that time that was so attractive to the country . Scott i am not sure. Now of course, ohio is known as a vital state politically. Kind of a bellwether. I am not sure if there was something appealing about those men, or the state. Hayes was in the civil war. A hero, he also pledged to serve only one term. The idea was he was going to reform the Civil Service, which was the gigantic issue of the time and that by serving only one term it would be easier for him to do that. Brian why would the Civil Service need to be reformed . And what was that connection to Roscoe Conkling . Scott at the time, this was populated by people who were political loyalists. There was no thought given to who might be able to do the job, who had the proper education or qualifications. It was a way for the party to perpetuate its power. They also required people who had gotten jobs because of their Party Service to contribute to the party. They had what were called assessments, which were basically mandatory contributions that had to be made to the Political Party if you work for the government. Do you know brian to know how much . Scott it depended on what the salary was. Hanover street, the workers at customhouse at used to call it handover street. They had to sign their checks over the to the Republican Party there. We talked about Teddy Roosevelt. Later president s wanted to instill the federal government with more power and have it take a more active role in everything, from safeguarding the safety of food and drugs, to the national parks. All of this needed to be overseen by people who know what they were doing the. Were doing what they and the Civil Service reform played in the groundwork for the more expensive role of the federal government. Brian people that have watched this network might have seen your face, and a familiar name. Your father is a former wall street journal reporter. Robert greenberger. We have some video of him and then i will ask you about him and what impact he had. Begin videoip clip] pakistans apparent bid to go nuclear is unlikely to spur u. S. Retaliation. Robert a pakistani native was arrested for conspiring to illegally ship some material to pakistan to be used in its nuclear bomb program. We have specific laws of saying we cut off aid to any country caught doing such things. In this particular case though, pakistan is an extremely pivotal ally, mainly as a funneling point for guerillas fighting against the sovietbacked regime in afghanistan. It poses a Foreign Policy dilemma for congress and the administration. [end video clip] brian that was 30 years ago. What impact did your dad have on you . Scott first what i noticed about that footage is the beard, again. So it was the fashion. He had a tremendous influence. He was a journalist. He was the driving force behind my decision to go into journalism. He loved what he was doing. He had such a great time working for the wall street journal for so many years. It was easy to see that when he came home at night, that he enjoyed what he was doing. A little background, he had started out going into my grandfathers is this. My grandfather died shortly after my father graduated from college. Ran a business that had nothing to do with journalism but what my father love to do was right. But he loved journalism and writing. He got to fulfill his dreams and traveled all over the world. He wrote about all kinds of interesting issues. That inspired me to do something similar. Brian is he still with us . Scott he is. He lives in washington. There are