[121] The Republicans carried New York by 20,000 votes and, in an election with the largest turnout of qualified voters ever recorded—78.4%—they won the nationwide popular vote by just 7,018 votes.[121] The Electoral College result was more decisive—214 to 155—and Garfield and Arthur were elected.[121]

Vice presidency (1881)[edit]
Main article: Inauguration of Chester A. Arthur
Arthur taking the oath of office as administered by Judge John R. Brady at Arthur's home in New York City, September 20, 1881
After the election, Arthur worked in vain to persuade Garfield to fill certain positions with his fellow New York Stalwarts—especially that of the Secretary of the Treasury; the Stalwart machine received a further rebuke when Garfield appointed Blaine, Conkling's arch-enemy, as Secretary of State.[122] The running mates, never close, detached as Garfield continued to freeze out the Stalwarts from his patronage. Arthur's status in the administration diminished when, a month before inauguration day, he gave a speech before reporters suggesting the election in Indiana, a swing state, had been won by Republicans through illegal machinations.