Journalist Alexander McClure wrote, '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.' Arthur's failing health and political temperament combined to make his administration less active than a modern presidency, yet he earned praise among contemporaries for his solid performance in office. 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.' Mark Twain wrote of him, 'It would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration.' Ann (1828–1915), a career educator who taught school in New York, as well as working in South Carolina in the years immediately before and after the Civil War.