The Unexpected President

“Vibrant narrative and fetching personal profiles transform a biography about a . . . overlooked political figure into [an] . . . unexpectedly gratifying read.” — New York Times When President James Garfield was shot in 1881, nobody expected Vice President Chester A. Arthur to become a strong and effective president, a courageous anti-corruption reformer, and an early civil rights advocate. For years Arthur had been perceived as unfit to govern, not only by critics