Chester Arthur
The 21st president of the United States, Chester Arthur, was born in Vermont to a pair of Irish immigrants. Although some people claimed that he “looked like a president,” he only became one after James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 while Arthur held the role of vice president. He was in office between 1881 and 1885 and one of his most outstanding achievements was formally passing the Pendleton Act which made federal job allocation merit-based for the first time.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform ensured that people were awarded federal jobs due to their qualifications and not their political affiliations and started the practice of mandatory examinations during the application process for government jobs. During his time as president, Arthur also signed the first federal immigration law, meant to keep “paupers, criminals, and lunatics” from coming to America.
Harrison’s Untimely Passing
Harrison is well known for his surprisingly long inauguration speech, which lasted a whole two hours! He died of pneumonia from a cold he got on his inauguration day.
Some people claimed that his illness was caused by him refusing to wear a warm jacket while riding a horse on the cold and rainy day and then delivering his speech.
Buchanan Bought and Freed Slaves – But Not Really
An important part of James Buchanan’s political views was his neutrality regarding slavery, but one day he discovered that his sister was keeping two slaves.
This could harm him politically, so Buchanan bought the slaves from his sister and turned them into indentured servants in his own house. They were not slaves anymore but had contracts that kept them from leaving his employ.
John Tyler
John Tyler became America’s 10th president, following the death of former President William Henry Harrison. He was the first person to hold office after replacing a president who had died in office and was therefor the first president who was not elected by the people. Tyler served from 1841 to 1845. He weighed in on the issue of slavery, proclaiming that each state should make its own decision on the matter, similarly to other local issues. Tyler made himself some enemies in Congress because he refused to be a “passive” alternate president and earned the nickname “His Accidency.”
He was also the first president in American history whose detractors tried to have impeached, although they failed. As part of his foreign policy agenda, Tyler negotiated treaties with China and Britain. In his private life, he holds another record as the president with the largest number of children with a whopping 15.
Herbert Hoover
America’s 31st president, Herbert Hoover, was in office during an extremely difficult time in US history. Hoover was born in Iowa, but later moved to Oregon and attended Stanford University when it first opened its doors in 1891. He went on to marry Lou Henry, his college sweetheart. Although Hoover often worked in China before he went into politics, he happened to be in Europe at the beginning of World War I and gained fame for helping to evacuate approximately 120,000 American tourists who were abroad in Germany and France.
His presidency took place between the years 1929 and 1933, which included the stock market crash and the Great Depression. Although times were tough, Hoover came up with a variety of strategies to improve the lives of the American people like lowering taxes and convincing businesses to keep on their employees. He had to put on a brave face and stay strong while waiting for the economy to recover from its terrible crisis.