CHAPTER XII 



ARTHUR, CLEVELAND, AND ELAINE 1881-1884 



THE successor of Garfield, President Arthur, I had met 

 frequently in my old days at Albany. He was able, 

 and there never was the slightest spot upon his integrity ; 

 but in those early days nobody dreamed that he was to at- 

 tain any high distinction. He was at that time charged 

 with the main military duties under the governor ; later he 

 became collector of the port of New York, and in both posi- 

 tions showed himself honest and capable. He was lively, 

 jocose, easy-going, with little appearance of devotion to 

 work, dashing off whatever he had to do with ease and 

 accuracy. At various dinner-parties and social gather- 

 ings, and indeed at sundry State conventions, where I met 

 him, he seemed, more than anything else, a bon vivant, 

 facile and good-natured. 



His nomination to the Vice-Presidency, which on the 

 death of Garfield led him to the Presidency, was very curi- 

 ous, and an account of it given me by an old friend who 

 had previously been a member of the Garfield cabinet and 

 later an ambassador in Europe, was as follows : 



After the defeat of the " Stalwarts, " who had fought 

 so desperately for the renomination of General Grant at 

 the Chicago Convention of 1880, the victorious side of the 

 convention determined to concede to them, as an olive- 

 branch, the Vice-Presidency, and with this intent my in- 

 formant and a number of other delegates who had been 

 especially active in preventing Grant's renomination went 

 to the room of the New York delegation, which had 



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