The presidency of Chester A. Arthur began on September 19, 1881, when Arthur became the 21st President of the United States upon the assassination and death of President James A. Garfield, and ended on March 4, 1885. Arthur, a Republican, had been Vice President of the United States for only 199 days when he succeeded to the presidency. Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act into law on January 16, 1883. The bill created a civil service commission to oversee civil service examinations and outlawed the use of 'assessments,' fees that political appointees were expected to pay to their respective political parties as the price for their appointments. These competing interests led to the development of a complicated tariff system that levied different rates on different imports.Arthur agreed with his party, and in 1882 called for the abolition of excise taxes on everything except liquor, as well as a simplification of the complex tariff structure.
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