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After Arthur was nominated for Vice President in 1880, his political opponents suggested that he might be constitutionally ineligible to hold that office. A New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, was hired by Arthur's opponents to explore rumours of Arthur's foreign birth. Hinman initially alleged that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old. When that story was lacking in proof, Hinman spread a new rumor that Arthur was born in Canada, but this claim also failed to gain credence.
Arthur grew up in upstate New York and practiced law in New York City. As a lawyer he gained prominence for acting on behalf of African-Americans in civil rights cases. For example, in 1854 Arthur was the lead attorney representing Elizabeth Jennings Graham after she was denied a seat on a streetcar because of her race. Arthur was successful in the case, and the verdict led to the desegregation of the New York City streetcar lines.
Arthur devoted much of his time to Republican politics and quickly rose in the political machine run by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling. He was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to the lucrative and politically powerful post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871. Arthur was removed from that position by the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1878, who was tring to reform the federal patronage system in New York. When James Garfield won the Republican nomination for President in 1880, Arthur was nominated for Vice President to balance the ticket by adding an eastern Stalwart to it.
After just half a year as Vice President, Arthur found himself, unexpectedly, as President following the assassination and death of Garfield. Many expected Arthur to be a tool of the Stalwarts, but he soon proved them wrong. To the pleasant surprise of reformers, Arthur took up the reform cause that Garfield had championed despite the fact that this had once led to his expulsion from office. He signed the Pendleton Act (legislation enacting civil service reform) into law, and enforced its provisions vigorously. He vetoed the Rivers and Harbors Act that would have appropriated federal funds in a manner he thought excessive and he presided over the rebuilding of the United States Navy.
Arthur suffered from poor health towards the end of his term. He was diagnosed with Bright's disease, a kidney ailment now referred to as nephritis. He tried to keep his condition private, but by 1883 rumors of his illness began to circulate. By that time he had become thinner and more aged in appearance, as well as less energetic. He didn't lobby for renomination in 1884 and retired at the close of his term.
After summering in New London, Connecticut, in 1886, he returned quite ill. To the regret of future historians, he ordered nearly all of his papers, both personal and official, burned. The next morning, Arthur suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and never regained consciousness. He died the following day (November 18, 1886) at the age of 57. Journalist Alexander McClure would later write, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe." The New York World summed up Arthur's presidency at his death in 1886: "No duty was neglected in his administration, and no adventurous project alarmed the nation."