Ep. 22: Chester A. Arthur (Presidents Are People Too)

Alexis and Elliott explore the life of our oft-forgotten 21st president, Chester Alan Arthur. Author Esther Crain explains why Arthur was the quintessential Gilded Age New Yorker, Elliott digs into a complicated relationship with NY senator Roscoe Conkling, and Alexis investigates his involvement in a significant civil rights case. Playwright Sean David DeMers meets our hosts at a Brooklyn cemetery, to discuss Arthur’s mysterious correspondence with a New York woman who encouraged him to rise to the challenges of the presidency.