Despite his false claims of friendship with Arthur, the public soon learned that Guiteau was mentally unstable and unconnected with the Vice President. Following Garfield's wounding, but before his death, there was a lack of legal precedent on what was to happen while Garfield lingered near death. No one was sure who, if anyone, could exercise presidential authority. Arthur was reluctant to be seen to act as President while Garfield lived, and for the next two months there was a vacuum in the executive office, with Garfield too weak to carry out any of his duties and Arthur refusing to assume them.
That summer Arthur refused to travel to Washington for fear of appearing too eager to fill Garfield's role. He was at his Lexington Avenue home when, on the night of September 19, he learned that Garfield had died. Judge John R. Brady of the New York Supreme Court administered the oath of office of President in Arthur's home at 2:15 a.m. the following day, September 20, 1881 (130 years ago today.) Arthur boarded a train for the nation's capital two days later.
Arriving in Washington on September 22, Arthur repeated the oath of office, this time administered by Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, because of concerns that a state judge may have lacked the authority to administer the presidential oath. He did not move into the White House immediately, residing instead at the home of Senator John P. Jones. When he did move into the White House, since Arthur was a widower, his sister, Mary Arthur McElroy, served as White House hostess.
Arthur rapidly became Washington's most eligible bachelor and his social life became the subject of many rumors, but according to historians he remained devoted only to the memory of his late wife. Arthur's son, Chester Jr., was then a freshman at Princeton University and his daughter, Nell, stayed in New York with a governess until 1882. When Nell arrived in Washington, Arthur attempted to shield her from the intrusions of the press as much as he could.
Arthur quickly came into conflict with Garfield's cabinet, most of whom represented Republican factions that opposed him. He asked the cabinet members to remain until December, when Congress would reconvene, but Treasury Secretary William Windom submitted his resignation in October to enter a Senate race in his home state of Minnesota. Attorney General Wayne MacVeagh was next to resign, believing that, as a reformer, he had no place in an Arthur cabinet, despite Arthur's personal appeal to remain. Secretary of State James G. Blaine, arch-nemesis of the Stalwart faction, agreed to remain Secretary of State until Congress reconvened, but once it did he departed immediately.Other cabinet members soon followed suit and of the Cabinet members Arthur had inherited from Garfield, only Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln remained for the entirety of Arthur's term.