Chester A. Arthur became the 21st President of the United States following the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881. He faced many issues that modern day President's have faced, including budget balancing, immigration, corruption in government and opponents questioning his citizenship. This bit of information about him on wikepedia I found very interesting:
William Arthur's frequent moves would later form the basis for accusations that Chester Arthur was not a native-born citizen of the United States. After Arthur was nominated for Vice President in 1880, his political opponents suggested that he might be constitutionally ineligible to hold that office.[8]
A New York attorney, Arthur P. Hinman, apparently hired by his opponents, explored rumors of Arthur's foreign birth.[9] Hinman initially alleged that Arthur was born in Ireland and did not come to the United States until he was fourteen years old, which would make him ineligible for the Vice Presidency under the United States Constitution's natural-born citizen clause.[9][note 3] When that story did not take root, Hinman spread a new rumor that Arthur was born in Canada, but this claim also failed to gain credence.[9]
Civil service reform
In the 1870s, the public became aware of a scandal in which contractors for star postal routes were greatly overpaid for their services with the connivance of government officials (including Second Assistant Postal Secretary Thomas J. Brady and former Senator Stephen Wallace Dorsey).[104] This was an example of the kind of corruption that reformers feared Arthur would permit, and reformers grew concerned that the former supporter of the spoils system would not devote his administration's energy to continuing the investigation into the scandal.[104] Nevertheless, the new Attorney General, Brewster, continued the investigations begun by MacVeigh and hired notable Democratic lawyers William W. Ker and Richard T. Merrick in an attempt both to improve the prosecution team and avoid the appearance of political partisanship.[105] Although Arthur had worked closely with Dorsey before taking office, once in office he supported the investigation and forced the resignation of officials suspected in the scandal.[105] An 1882 trial of the ringleaders resulted in convictions for two minor conspirators and a hung jury for the rest.[106] After a juror came forward with allegations that the defendants attempted to bribe him, the judge set aside the guilty verdicts and granted a new trial.[106] Before the second trial began, Arthur removed five federal office holders who were sympathetic with the defense, including a former Senator.[107] The second trial began in December 1882 and lasted until July 1883 and, again, did not result in a guilty verdict.[107] Failure to obtain a conviction tarnished the administration's image, but Arthur did succeed in putting a stop to the fraud.
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."
