(Chester Arthur sworn in as 21st President. Image courtesy of Wikicommons, Public Domain.)

It was just 140 years ago today, September 20, 1881, when our 21st President, Chester Arthur, was sworn in after the assassination of James Garfield. Republican, Arthur had several hats before being our vice-president then president. A lawyer, as well as a soldier in the New York militia during the Civil War, although he never fought, instead being held back because he was so good at supplying and supplying troops that the governor wanted the best in work.

Arthur was not the usual rebellious politician, in fact he was in poor health, a bit clumsy, and was sadly troubled by the loss of his first child at the age of two. He only served one term, as he died in 1886 at the age of 57. Today he comes across as a president who really did nothing, but had a new modern US Navy built after being neglected after the Civil War. Even the great American author Mark Twain had said of Arthur that he was one of the best presidents of all time. 140 years ago today, the assassination of one president resulted in the swearing in of another.