Chester Arthur, the twenty-first President of the United States, was an unlikely holder of the highest office in land. Born in Vermont in 1830, he was the son of an Irish immigrant father and a New Hampshire mother. After becoming a lawyer in New York, he joined the Republican Party and eventually came to hold a number of state offices there, including a position as head of the New York Customs House. Though personally honest, Arthur' s administration was marred by corrupt practices, and he was ...

Chester Arthur, the twenty-first President of the United States, was an unlikely holder of the highest office in land. Born in Vermont in 1830, he was the son of an Irish immigrant father and a New Hampshire mother. After becoming a lawyer in New York, he joined the Republican Party and eventually came to hold a number of state offices there, including a position as head of the New York Customs House. Though personally honest, Arthur' s administration was marred by corrupt practices, and he was removed from office in 1878. When James Garfield was elected as the Republican Party's presidential candidate in 1880's, Arthur, who belonged to a faction that had supported the denomination of President Grant, was offered the Vice-presidency as a conciliatory gesture. Arthur accepted, and then, in 1881, was elevated to the Presidency following Garfield's assassination. In view of his far from unblemished record and his lack of strong political support, even within his own party, Arthur's move to the White House was viewed with great concern by many Americans, but, to the astonishment of most, his administration proved to be a competent and honest one. However, he never was elected President in his own right, being defeated for the nomination at his party's convention in 1884, and dying in November two years later of Bright's disease during the presidency of a Democrat, Grover Cleveland.

How does the writer describe the fact that Arthur became President ?