Who Was the Real Chester Arthur – and What Was His Relationship with James Garfield?
When US President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, his Vice President, Chester A. Arthur, took office amid widespread public distrust. Many citizens saw him as a party operative, deeply connected to political patronage and machine politics in New York.
Yet Arthur defied expectations. Once dismissed as a political insider, he surprised the nation when he stepped into leadership following Garfield’s death. His rise from a distrusted party figure to the 21st President of the United States remains one of the more striking turns in American political history.
The story of Arthur’s unexpected presidency resurfaces in Netflix’s 2025 historical drama Death by Lightning. The series explores the events surrounding President Garfield’s assassination—portraying him as played by Michael Shannon—and the role of his killer, Charles Guiteau, depicted by Matthew Macfadyen.
In Death by Lightning, Chester Arthur (played by Nick Offerman) is shown as “a low man pushed into high office,” a Republican enforcer known for his heavy social life and reluctant ascent to power.
Arthur’s Legacy in Perspective
Though initially seen as unfit for the presidency, Chester A. Arthur’s unexpected steadiness helped restore a measure of respect to the office and reshape his legacy in ways few could have predicted.
Author’s Summary: Chester A. Arthur’s rise from a distrusted party insider to a respected president unfolds vividly in both history and its cinematic retelling in Death by Lightning.